


Tartarus Tech

by heyguysitsmerob



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Binge Drinking, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, Suicidal Thoughts, Zagreus Being A Messy Bitch Who Loves Drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:21:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 32,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28631658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heyguysitsmerob/pseuds/heyguysitsmerob
Summary: College AU.Zagreus is a sophomore at Tartarus Tech, living in the university's most prestigious co-ed fraternity: Hades House. As the American football team's star running back and the son of Dean Hades, Zagreus has a lot of expectations heaped on him by his mentors. Dr. Athena wants him to pull his grades up so that he can one day join the illustrious Olympus Club, while Coach Theseus is riding him to make sure that he doesn't have another "incident" like the one earlier this year. Zagreus is still recovering from the news that his mother, Nyx, isn't his birth mother, and that she is still out there somewhere. Worst of all, he has not just one, but two exes walking the halls of Tartarus Tech in the forms of Megaera and Thanatos. With so many problems piling up around him, there's only one thing for Zagreus to do: distract himself by getting involved in all of his friends' drama.
Relationships: Achilles/Patroclus (Hades Video Game), Eurydice/Orpheus (Hades Video Game), Megaera/Zagreus (Hades Video Game), Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 42





	1. Monday in Tartarus

A knock came at Zagreus’ door. “Oi, Zagreus. Open up, lad. Come on, please.”

Zagreus groaned, picking his head up off the pillow. As his room came into focus, he noted with disdain a spit stain on his sheets. With a dreary hand, he wiped more of it away from the corner of his mouth.

The knock came again. It was Achilles’ voice on the other side. “You know that I could break this door down whenever I choose, and the only reason I haven’t done so already is out of respect for you and your privacy. But if you don’t come to the dining hall with me and put some food in your belly, I’m going to be changing up my tactics.”

Zagreus’ eyes rolled around the room. The light coming through the window was far too dim for it to be his usual wake-up time. A quick look at his phone confirmed his suspicions. Seven-thirty. What kind of inhuman monster woke someone up at seven-thirty?

Groaning, Zagreus lifted himself up out of bed and placed his feet on the ground. All he was wearing were his boxers, but he knew Achilles wouldn’t care. He shuffled through the clothes littering his floor to walk over to the door.

Opening it up revealed Achilles’ gleaming physique on the other side.  _ Literally  _ gleaming, as it seemed like the football team’s star player had just stepped out of the shower. His dirty blonde hair fell in wet ringlets onto his shoulders. The only thing covering him was a towel, which was tied off just below his impossibly well-defined abdominals. God, looking at him made Zagreus want to claw his eyes out. How were normal people meant to compete?

“Five minutes,” Zagreus said.

“That’s the spirit, lad!” Achilles said, a grin splitting his handsome face. “I’m going to go get dressed. You have until then to clean yourself up.” Zagreus could’ve sworn he heard his upperclassman humming a tune as he strolled off down the hallway toward his room.

He turned around to face his own. All of the rooms in Hades House were of a decent size. When he first moved in, he had thought about all of the different things he could put in here. Now, a year and some change after coming to this school, he still only had his bed, his desk, and the fancy stand-mirror that his mom had given him. No, the mirror that  _ Nyx  _ had given him. Not his mother. For a moment he was glad for the Tartarus Tech-branded blanket that he had thrown over it. 

As usual, the floor was covered with clothes both dirty and clean. For a while he had been successful in piling all of his clean clothes up on his desk, until last week when he had needed it to actually study. Now, he found himself bent over in his boxers sniffing each individual article to assess its merit. The act made him feel foolish. As soon as he had some time, he would bundle up all of his clothing and bring it down to Dusa to wash it all and give him a fresh start. That was all he needed.

By the time Achilles returned, he had decided on a pair of jeans and a Tartarus Tech sweatshirt with their three-headed dog mascot emblazoned upon the middle. Sometimes, simple was best. Now was definitely one of those times. 

Achilles waited patiently while Zagreus slumped off down the hallway to brush his teeth. On the way, he heard rock music pouring out of one of the rooms he passed. Orpheus’, for certain. Zagreus was shocked to see  _ him  _ of all people awake at this hour. Once he returned from taking care of his oral hygiene, he said as much to Achilles.

“You’ve got it backwards,” Achilles said as they set off down the banistered stairs. “It isn’t that Orpheus is already awake, it’s that he hasn’t gone to sleep yet. Says that even being awake at the same time as his lost love is too painful.” Achilles’ tone of voice seemed to convey actual sympathy for the young man.

Zagreus could only roll his eyes. “Oh, brother. Hasn’t it already been two months since she dumped him?”

They reached the bottom of the stairs, emerging out into Hades House’s impressive lounge. Impressive for rich folks, that is. The whole place was done up with red curtains, leather sofas, glass tables, and the like. It was  _ so  _ nice that none of the house’s residents felt comfortable relaxing there, and almost all of them chose to nest elsewhere on campus.

_ Almost  _ all of them. Hypnos was asleep on one of those sofas, his laptop still perched on top of his chest. The gaunt boy looked perfectly at peace, with his mouth hanging open and his high-pitched snores filling the room.

Achilles shook his head, looking at something on the other side of the room. “I think you might find, Zagreus, that some folks take a bit of a long time to move on.”

Zagreus followed his gaze. He just barely caught a glimpse of a white-haired boy in a purple coat slipping out the front door of the house. He had probably quickened his step when he heard who was coming down the stairs. “Fuck,” Zagreus said, having to resist the urge to chase after. Making a scene wouldn’t do any good. “Sometimes I think that you plan these things out on purpose.”

Achilles clapped him on the shoulder, beaming as if Zagreus’ ex  _ hadn’t  _ just fled from them. “I’m just quick, lad.” Keeping his hand fixed on Zagreus’ shoulder, he all but towed him across the lounge. Suddenly, all Zagreus wanted to do was go back upstairs and lay down. 

He was so immersed in his own thoughts that he didn’t even notice Dusa dusting the lounge’s massive grandfather clock until they passed her. “Good morning, Dusa,” Achilles said.

Dusa straightened up as if she had been electrocuted, color rising to her face. “Good morning, Achilles! And to you…Z-Zag⸺” Her feather duster tumbled out of her grasp and hit the floor with a small clatter. On the other side of the room, Hypnos snorted and turned over. “Oh, clumsy me…” she said, bending over to pick it up.

“I’ve got it,” Zagreus said, preempting her and scooping it up off the floor. “Good morning,” he said as he handed it back. 

All of the color that had so quickly accumulated in Dusa’s face seemed to drain out of it as she took the feather duster back with a trembling hand. She mumbled something that might have been “thank you”. Suddenly, she tore off in a different direction, saying something about needing to iron some clothes. 

This sort of behavior was par for the course with Dusa, so Zagreus didn’t pay it any mind.

He and Achilles stepped out into the brisk autumn air. Zagreus felt like it had been cold forever, and couldn’t wait for spring in spite of the temperature just beginning to drop. Wishing that he had worn more than just one sweatshirt, he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

If he turned around, he knew that he would see the words “HADES HOUSE” emblazoned on the side of the chique modern building that they all lived in. The image of that accursed place was practically seared into his mind at this point. He did not turn around.

All of his problems began and ended with that house. What business did his father, the dean, have with the university’s most prestigious fraternity being named after  _ himself _ ? Never mind that it had been named that because of his great-grandfather’s donations some sixty years ago. He should have  _ changed  _ it. And even if he didn’t change it, he had no business dragging his son into it.

Hades House was an exclusive co-ed fraternity that you could only be invited to join through invitation. Outwardly, it was a gathering place for the most talented young minds to convene and feed off of each other. In reality, Zagreus knew it for the trophy case of talented students that it was. Something that Dean Hades could show off to investors and alumni alike. 

A small voice in the back of his head that sounded suspiciously like Nyx reminded him that he was only still allowed to attend this university because of his father’s intervention, and that technically he should be thankful to the man for sticking his neck out. But that was bullshit. 

“Oh look, it’s the Hydra,” Achilles said, snapping Zagreus out of his stupor. He was pointing ahead of them on the sidewalk, where seven girls walked side-by-side in a cluster. They were all deathly pale white girls, wearing clothes of the exact same style and chattering nonstop with the same annoying voice. The only distinguishing features about any of them were their individual hairstyles, which were always dyed an aggressive neon hue. Even this did nothing to actually help tell them apart, however, as they were all constantly changing it and switching to each other’s shades.

“Oof, let’s slow down,” Zagreus said, slowing his step. “I don’t want to listen to any of them talk about TikTok dances or whatever.” 

“Come on, now,” Achilles said, matching his stride. “I can’t speak for all of them, but I know that at least Lernie isn’t so bad. If you get to know her.”

“I don’t even know which one that is.”

“The one with the big head. Right there.” Achilles pointed. “It’s said that she has all of their brains jammed inside of her single, oversized skull.”

Zagreus couldn’t help but laugh at Achilles’ mean-spirited joke. No doubt he was telling the truth about hearing someone else say that. The man didn’t have an arrogant bone in his body, and would never originate that sort of jab. 

Being out and about with him did make Zagreus feel better. Just being  _ out  _ of that house and breathing fresh air was enough to do his spirit wonders. There was still an ache in the back of his brain urging him to go back to bed, but a part of him was glad that his friend had mixed it up and invited him out to breakfast. A thought occurred to him.

“Don’t you normally meet up with Sisyphus for breakfast?” he asked.

Achilles nodded. “That I do. But you know that ever since he ended up on Coach Theseus’ bad side, he’s been making him shove that same practice dummy up and down the field for morning practice every day. Hardly ever get to see him anymore.”

Zagreus winced inwardly. He knew a thing or two about getting on their football coach’s bad side. The difference was that Theseus knew Zagreus was too valuable to bench for his bad behavior off of principle alone. Sisyphus, however, was a different story. In spite of his massive build, common sentiment on the team was that the man’s soul was simply too gentle for American football. He was good as a meat shield on the field when someone else got injured or had to call out for a game, but little else. The way that Coach Theseus explained it, these constant morning exercises were designed to toughen him up. May as well try to toughen up a marshmallow, Zagreus thought.

“There are silver linings to everything, though,” Achilles said as they finally arrived at the dining hall. “I needed a new breakfast companion, and you needed someone to drag you out of bed. It’s a win-win.”

A smile touched Zagreus’ lips. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

The two went inside.

Zagreus hadn’t thought he was hungry when he first woke up, but now that he was out walking around he was starving. Come to think of it, he didn’t think that he had eaten dinner the previous day. Or breakfast, for that matter. And if half a clementine and most of a bag of chips didn’t count as lunch, he hadn’t eaten that either. Moving through the lines, he piled his plate high with delectable goodness.

No one could quite explain it, but their university’s dining halls were famous for their fish dishes. Despite the fact that they weren’t anywhere near a large body of water, there was fish available on the menu at all times of the day. Trout, bass, and sometimes even sturgeon on holidays. It was said that seafood was the head chef’s specialty, and that he would even reward students with extra helpings if they tipped him off to any particularly good ingredients. 

In any case, Zagreus had missed this food during his reclusivity. Once he and Achilles sat themselves down, he didn’t waste any time digging in. His friend smiled watching him go in on it, but said nothing. Calmly, he started cutting apart the omelet that he had selected.

“Aww, girls, looks like the rumors are true. The Three Musketeers are down a member.”

Zagreus looked up from his plate to find the girls from Fü Delta Ri looming above their table. Tisiphone stood on the left, her ponytail pulled so tight that it was probably cutting off circulation to her brain. Megaera was on the right, looking simultaneously gorgeous as always and also completely mortified to be there. In the middle stood Alecto, widely regarded as one of the angriest and least pleasant girls on campus. 

It was her who had spoken. “Serves you right,” she said directly to him.

Zagreus put his fork down on the table while Achilles opened his mouth to respond. Megaera beat them both to it. “Come off it, Alecto. That was a long time ago.”

“Six months is only a long time in Love Island time, girlie,” Alecto said. She turned her head to look at Tisiphone. “What do you think?”

Tisiphone never took her eyes off Zagreus. She squinted and shook her head slowly from side to side. “F…f…fu…” She had a speech impediment. “...fuckboy!” she said at last. Her speech impediment didn’t make her any less of a bitch.

“Okay, that’s quite enough,” Achilles said, steeling his voice. “Can we at least enjoy breakfast without you harpies breathing down our necks?”

“Fine. Just reminding you what you gave up for that  _ hotshot lawyer  _ of yours,” Alecto said. With one last flip of her hair she departed, Tisiphone trailing in her wake.

Megaera sighed deeply. “I’m sorry about them,” she said. “They’re still feeling a bit vindictive about…y’know.” 

“It’s fine,” Zagreus said. Against his better judgement, he gestured for her to sit. Just because they were broken up, it didn’t mean that he didn’t still enjoy her company. Hell, after his most recent escapade, it might even be welcome.

“I don’t have time to hang,” Megaera said, taking a quick glance at her watch. “I have to be at my class in twenty minutes.” 

Megaera was a grad student in the psychology department, doing research on the inner workings of the human mind. Particularly the  _ breaking  _ of the human mind, studying the conditions in which people were liable to go insane. As part of her program, she was obligated to teach lower level psychology courses to the undergrads. Due mostly to her apathetic nature, she didn’t bring any enthusiasm at all to the task, droning through the material in almost complete monotone. It was said that her classes were torture.

“Sounds good.” Zagreus sighed. He wasn’t sure how he had ever convinced someone three years older than himself to date him, anyway. Now that it was over, any hope of forging a friendship with her would be clouded by their history.

Achilles smiled politely. “Do stop by again,” he said. “But next time you come to the Three Musketeers’ table, try to leave the Gruesome Twosome behind.”

Megaera rolled her eyes. “Will do.”

Just as she was turning to go, Zagreus’ phone lit up with an incoming phone call. Seeing the Caller ID, he immediately hit ‘silence’ and turned the phone facedown. Not before both of his friends had the opportunity to see who the caller was, however.

“Still avoiding your mom?” Megaera asked without prelude.

“She  _ isn’t  _ my mother,” Zagreus snapped. He immediately felt bad. “At least, not…I don’t know. I still need some time to think about it.”

“She  _ is  _ your mother, Zag,” Achilles said. “Even if she didn’t give birth to you, she still⸺”

“I know that!” Zagreus said, louder than he had intended. Megaera’s eyebrows rose. “I know,” he said again. “I just…need some time.”

Megaera and Achilles gave each other a meaningful look.

Zagreus got up from the table. “I need to take a walk and clear my head before my first class,” he said, scooping his tray up off the table. He hadn’t eaten half of what was there, but suddenly his appetite was gone. “Thank you for inviting me to breakfast, Achilles. And Meg, you look beautiful today. You really do.” With that, he turned away from his friends and trudged back out into the cold.

-

Zagreus wasn’t able to focus throughout either of his first two classes. Trust a phone call from the woman who lied about being his mother to throw off an otherwise perfectly good morning. 

His first class had been biology with Dr. Hermes, who was bouncing off the walls as always. His lectures went a mile a minute, and anyone taking their notes by hand was sure to have cramps by the end of the period. Zagreus had written that one off as a loss from the very beginning, and hadn’t even tried to keep up with the powerpoint on Earth’s fastest animals.

After that had been psychology with Dr. Dionysus, who Zagreus normally got along with. The laid-back professor was a favorite among the students. Not only was he an easy grader, but he was known to buy drinks for his students that were of-age.  _ If _ one happened to run into him on a night that he was getting wine drunk at any of the various college bars near the campus, which was most nights. His blithe demeanor wasn’t what Zagreus needed that day, however. 

His last class of the day was physics with Dr. Athena. She was as strict as a ruler, and didn’t tolerate any slacking off. Not only was getting on his phone not an option in such a small classroom, Athena was brutal about calling on students that didn’t look like they were paying attention. Thus, Zagreus had no choice but to actually pay attention throughout the entire hour and a half lecture. He took the only good notes that he had the entire day, and actually felt like he had learned something by the time the clock said it was time to go.

“Zagreus, could we talk for a moment?” Dr. Athena asked.

He paused in the middle of shoving his laptop into his backpack. At that moment, he wanted nothing more than to head to football practice and forget about his problems. He figured that he could spare a moment for the only professor actually able to make him pay attention all day. Not that he had a choice. 

“Sure,” Zagreus said. He finished loading his backpack and stepped up to her desk as the other students started to file out. “What is it?”

Even though Dr. Athena was considerably shorter than him, Zagreus couldn’t help but feel like she was looking down on him all the time. It was something in her eyes. “You were distracted today, Zagreus.”

She thought he was distracted in  _ her  _ class? She would have a seizure if she saw the behavior he exhibited in his other lectures. If his mind had wandered only a handful of times during her explanation of thermodynamics, she should count herself lucky. 

“Maybe so,” he said, not wishing to meet her level gaze. “But why should you single me out? I saw Bloodless, er…I mean, Blaeric doodling all over  _ his  _ notesheet.” Bloodless was a nickname that he had developed for one of his classmates, who was pale as a sheet and bone-thin to boot.

“What Blaeric does is none of your concern.” Dr. Athena’s mouth was a firm, flat line. “ _ He  _ has not been marked out to join the Olympus Club. If you still wish to join us, you will have to work twice as hard as anyone else to account for your little  _ slip-up  _ earlier this year.”

Zagreus had to suppress a groan. The Olympus Club was an extremely prestigious alumni association that only the top percent of the top percent of graduates were invited to join. Not only was it essentially an exclusive club for rich people and their pets, it was a business entity unto itself. Its older members shelled out millions of dollars into joint investments, whose dividends were shared equally among all its members. Even those who had just joined and contributed nothing got a cut. Membership alone was enough to guarantee someone a comfortable lifestyle. It was a  _ shortcut  _ through life, reserved only for those the university deemed worthy of receiving it.

In short, Zagreus had no interest at all. Current residents of Hades House were frequently trotted out at Olympus Club events, an opportunity for them to rub elbows with would-be benefactors. Zagreus had seen the look in those peoples’ eyes. To a member, they were either completely carefree or singularly obsessed with problems that only mattered to them. Dr. Ares, for example, was obsessed with funneling as much money as he could into researching new weapons of war. Zagreus never wanted to be like that, so disconnected from the real world that he couldn’t see the harm that his actions were causing. 

He thought all of this, but said, “I’ll try harder, Dr. Athena.”

She seemed satisfied by that answer for now, nodding. “Good, then. If I see you putting in a bit more effort, I may even be inclined to bump your test scores up a few points, so long as you don’t tell your father.”

Zagreus wanted to scream. Why did they all think that he needed  _ boons  _ from them to succeed? Whether he succeeded or failed was none of their goddamned business!

“Thank you, Dr. Athena,” he said.

“You are quite welcome.” Dr. Athena started gathering her papers up off the table in front of her. “Now, you need to be heading to practice soon, don’t you? I won’t be the reason that our star running back is late.”

Zagreus had never walked out of a room so quickly. That conversation had set his blood boiling more than the ones with his father usually did. Hearing her all but offer to fudge his grades for him was a perfect example of what the Olympus Club stood for; those who were ahead lending a hand to those that were also already ahead, if by a little less. He wanted nothing to do with any of those so-called “philanthropists” ever again. He knew that he would have no choice but to come running the next time Dean Hades clapped his hands, however, which only made him madder.

One thing that his conversation with Dr. Athena was good for was forgetting about his ignored call from Nyx. Thoughts of that had been entirely replaced by his seething hatred for the Olympus Club by the time he was finally storming into the football team’s changing room.

“Ho there, Zagreus!” Sisyphus said, naked down to his underwear in front of one of the lockers. The man truly was a wall of meat. Not very much muscle definition, but who needed it when opposing players had to run for five minutes just to get around you?

“Hi, Sisyphus,” Zagreus said, shoving his backpack into one of the lockers nearby.

The large upperclassman seemed to pick up on his mood. “What’s got you in a twist?”

“Best not to antagonize the lad, today,” Achilles said, coming around the corner of one of the lockers. He was already fully dressed in his uniform, shoulder pads and all. “He’s had a rough go of it.”

“For your information, I’ve hardly thought about what happened this morning,” Zagreus lied. “I’m upset because Dr. Athena offered to bump my test scores up a few points if she saw me put in more of an…effort.”

Achilles and Sisyphus stood staring at him for a moment. The latter seemed to have discarded any thoughts of finishing putting on his pants. “Isn’t that…a good thing?” he asked.

“ _ Technically _ ,” Zagreus said, pulling his pants off. “But she only offered because she thinks I need  _ help _ .”

“This may be tough for you to hear, Zag,” Achilles said. “But physics…isn’t exactly your strong suit. It’s possible that you might  _ need  _ help.”

“I’m doing just fine in physics,” Zagreus lied again. “She’s only offering because she’s dead set on me joining the Olympus Club someday.”

Sisyphus’ jaw nearly hit the floor. “The  _ Olympus Club _ ?” he asked. “Zagreus, if you’ve got someone on the inside who wants you in, then that’s wonderful news! You should be celebrating, not putting your pants on backwards.”

Noticing what he was doing, Zagreus quickly turned his pants around the proper direction. Someone like Sisyphus wouldn’t understand, Zagreus thought. No one had ever put pressure on him to amount to anything. He simply  _ was _ , without anyone forcing their expectations on him. That was what Zagreus wanted.

He turned to Achilles for help explaining it to the man, but the upperclassman only shook his head. What was his problem?

Their conversation was brought to an end by Coach Theseus’ voice booming throughout the locker room. “Hurry up, you lagards! Any of you that aren’t on the field in five minutes will be doing penance exercises until your middle years!” After a beat, he added, “And that means  _ you _ , Sisyphus!”

Sisyphus made a noise somewhere in the back of his throat, rushing to throw on the rest of his gear so fast that Zagreus thought that  _ he  _ might have put his pants on backwards as well.

“I’ll meet you out there, lads,” Achilles said, walking away. 

Zagreus took his time putting on the rest of his gear. If Coach Theseus demanded to know why he was late, he would just explain that Dr. Athena had held him after class and there was nothing he could do about it. He knew for a fact that Theseus had received some of Dr. Athena’s boons during his days at Tartarus Tech, also, so he shouldn’t have anything to say on the matter. 

Theseus didn’t react at all when Zagreus walked casually onto the field to join the rest of the team. That meant that either he had made it within his time limit, or he had created it just for another excuse to punish Sisyphus, and had never actually planned on applying it to anyone else.

As always, Theseus was flanked by the team’s conditioning coach, Asterius. Safe to say, there was no one more qualified in the world to be giving body building advice. Asterius’ biceps were wider than Theseus’ head, and he had a good several inches on Sisyphus, the tallest member of the team. In spite of his intimidating appearance, he was a gentle man. His advice was always good, and he never tried to push the boys on the team too far. Unlike his companion.

“Listen up, lagards!” Theseus announced, pacing back and forth in front of the assembled youths. “We had a rough start to the season due to  _ someone’s  _ absence,” he spared a look toward Zagreus, “but now that we are complete again, we are going to come back  _ stronger  _ than ever before! Perhaps, if you all are lucky, even stronger than when me and Asterius graced this field! Isn’t that right, Asterius?”

Asterius nodded.

“Our game versus Asphodel University is this weekend,” Theseus said. “This is our opportunity to show the conference what the Tartarus Shades are made of! Are you going to cower like dogs, or are you going to show those blasted Fireballs what for?” 

He pumped his clipboard for emphasis and was met with a round of excited cheers from the team. For the most part, Zagreus thought that they were a bunch of meatheads that would be of more use swinging a club around in a dungeon somewhere than being on a football team. Even so, they were nice enough guys. Just a little bit easy to lead around by their noses, was all.

Practice began with ten laps around the entire field as a  _ warm-up _ , Theseus following behind them on his Segway the entire time, shouting insults. His Segway was nicknamed Chariot, and he used it any time that he wanted to go somewhere quickly. He couldn’t run due to his knee, which had apparently been hurt in a cliff-diving accident years prior. That had been the only thing that stopped him from going pro, according to him. Zagreus wasn’t sure he believed it.

As always, Zagreus completely smoked the rest of the team. He had finished his tenth lap by the time most of them were beginning their eighth.

“Looks like old Flame Foot’s done it again, Asterius!” Theseus said as Zagreus came back to the beginning. Around the sixth lap he had gotten bored of hurling “encouragement” at his players and taken a seat by the finish line.

“Good job, lad,” Asterius said.

“Thank you to you both,” Zagreus said, panting. Lord, if he felt this winded, he hated to see the state that Sisyphus would be in when he arrived back. He turned to look for his friend and found him predictably at the back of the pack. The distance between him and the next closest person was growing wider by the minute. When he turned away again, he found Theseus standing right next to him.

“You aren’t planning on running off again, are you, lagard?” Theseus asked, a mad glint in his eye. “Because I would hate to have to bench the dean’s son for the rest of the season.”

Zagreus turned to Asterius for help, but the larger man simply stared back at him. 

“No,” he said slowly. “But if I do decide to have another mental breakdown and drop out of school for two weeks again, I’ll shoot you an email about it. Does that sound good?”

Theseus scoffed. “Mind your tongue, wretch! You have no idea the strains that you put this team through by taking your surprise vacation.” 

“ _ Vacation _ ?” Zagreus asked. “Did you not hear what I just said?”

“I heard you just fine, lagard.”

At that moment, Achilles came trotting up. All told, he was only a bit short of a minute behind Zagreus. “Everything alright over here, friends?” he asked, putting his hands behind his head and panting to catch his breath as well.

“I was just reminding young Flame Foot of his duty to this team,” Theseus said. He walked over to put a hand on Achilles’ shoulder. “Something that you know all too well. Isn’t that right?” 

Achilles’ face took on a dark cast. Somehow, it looked as if the warmth that was always present there had dried up. He wouldn’t meet Zagreus’ eyes. “The team comes first, Zagreus,” he said. “Always.”

Zagreus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Achilles was siding with  _ Theseus _ , of all people? He was going to get to the bottom of this, but now wasn’t the time. Outnumbered three to one, he decided to play it safe. He raised both of his hands placatingly. “I totally hear you guys,” he said. “It was wrong of me to run off. I won’t do it again, okay?” 

Theseus’ face lit up with a smile, any trace of the hostile man he had been just a moment earlier completely gone. “Good lad!” he said. “Let’s go get you some pomegranate juice, shall we? It’s good for your muscles.”

Zagreus allowed himself to be led away by Theseus, but spared one last look over his shoulder at Achilles. His eyes were still fixed on the same point, some place far in the distance. What  _ was  _ the matter with him?

The rest of practice passed in a blur. Achilles was back to his usual self by the time Zagreus came back, without so much as an apologetic look for the friend that he had just taken a shit on. Theseus ran them through drills long and hard, and by the time they were finished Zagreus was completely winded. He hadn’t thought that just a few weeks of doing nothing could get him this far out of shape, but the proof was there in the tiredness that he felt in his very bones. 

When he went to look for Achilles after practice, hoping to get some answers, he was nowhere to be found. He must have changed out of his uniform incredibly quickly to be able to slip away like that. Avoiding him? Fine, then. See what Zagreus would do the next time he knocked on his door at seven-thirty in the morning.

He walked back to Hades House alone, backpack slung over his shoulder. It had been an exhausting day in almost every conceivable way, and he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed and never leave. He was so exhausted, in fact, that he nearly bumped right into someone on the sidewalk.

“Woah there, boyo, watch your step!”

Zagreus looked up to see Skelly, one of the janitors around campus, standing in front of him. Skelly was universally loved by the student body. He was always grinning from ear to ear, missing tooth and all, and was always willing to lend an ear to a student down on their luck. Skelly was just a nickname, of course. But one year, someone had gotten him a name tag that said ‘Skelly’, and he had reportedly thrown his real one in the trash on the spot. Since then, no one had any idea what his real name was.

“Evening, Skelly,” Zagreus said, doing his best to summon a smile for the kindly janitor. “Done for the day?”

“Yep, I’m headed back to the ole’ abode!” Skelly said, thumbing his nose. “Thinkin’ I might head back and catch up on New Girl. Have you seen that, boyo? That Zooey Deschanel is a  _ real _ looker, you’re tellin’ me. I’d let her be  _ my _ practice dummy if you know what I’m sayin’.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

Some of the things that came out of Skelly’s mouth made no sense, but that was part of the old man’s charm. In spite of it all, Zagreus laughed. What magic power did the old janitor have that made all of one’s problems melt away, just by him acting like a fool? “That sounds like a great evening, Skelly. I’m feeling a bit tired, myself, think I might just conk out.” He made to go past the janitor.

“Oh, alright then, boyo!” Skelly said, getting out of his way. “But hey, I can’t wait to watch you at the big game on Saturday! I know you’re gonna do great!”

“Thanks, mate,” Zagreus said, waving over his shoulder as the two parted ways. Well, he couldn’t  _ always _ say the right thing. Skelly meant well, and that’s what was great about him.

When Zagreus finally got to return to his bed, he felt all of his troubles seep out of him into his bedsheets. Yes, this was where he belonged. Nothing could reach him if he just remained in here, away from all of the drama and all of the expectations.

His phone started to ring again. Nyx.

Things could never be that simple, could they? Groaning, he reached over to decline the call. That was a problem that would still have to wait for another day.

Turning the light off and pulling his sheets up to his chest, he thought about all of his problems. His father, Hades House, his mother, his grades, the Olympus Club, the football team. It was all suffocating, building up inside of him and surely about to start spewing out at any moment. 

As he looked up at his ceiling fan, laying still in the cool autumn air, he thought to himself only one thing:

_ Is there no escape? _


	2. Elysium Lost

_T/W: Binge Drinking, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Suicidal Thoughts, Graphic Depictions of Football_

Parties at Satyr House were the worst.

Satyr House was a fraternity full of non-stop partiers that were just as likely to vomit on your sweatshirt as they were to say hello in the morning. That was no exaggeration. As a fundraiser one year, they had sold Satyr House-branded barf bags that students could fold up neatly into their backpacks when they were hungover. They were known in the community as ‘Satyr Sacks’. Everyone in the fraternity was constantly sicking up.

Despite how much everyone hated Satyr House, the lounge of Hades House was way too posh to throw parties in. The elegant decor was more appropriate for a cocktail soiree than a pregame. That meant that when its residents needed somewhere to go to forget their troubles, they often turned to the fraternity that was right down the block.

Trying to forget his troubles was exactly what Zagreus was doing there on that Thursday evening. Intense parties at Satyr House were almost a daily occurrence. Another reason that their proximity to Hades House was convenient. 

Zagreus quietly contemplated the contents of his red solo cup. The resident who had handed it to him had called it ‘Fountain Water’. Zagreus highly doubted that water had anything to do with the concoction beneath his nose. He wondered if he still had any Satyr Sacks leftover from that fundraiser, and if he might be needing any of them the next morning.

“Evening, Prince Z,” Sisyphus said, walking up with his own cup of Fountain Water.

“Good to see you, Sisyphus,” Zagreus said, taking a sip from his cup. He made a face. _Definitely_ nothing to do with water in there. 

Most of the football team tended to do their Friday night partying on Thursday so that they wouldn’t be hungover for their games on Saturday. Zagreus and Sisyphus were no exception, and neither was Achilles. Unfortunately, the handsome-faced upperclassman wasn’t present that evening. The short exchange with Coach Theseus earlier that week was still bugging Zagreus. He had hoped to ask Achilles about it after getting a couple of drinks into him, but he hadn’t been around for most of that week. He’d been perfectly friendly when the two did happen to run into each other, of course, but the door to his bedroom was closed more often than not.

Zagreus decided to take a shot in the dark and ask Sisyphus about it. “Do you know what’s been up with Achilles lately, mate?” he asked. “We had sort of a weird interaction with Coach Theseus earlier this week, and it’s been on my mind.”

“Ahh.” Sisyphus nodded solemnly. “Yes, that will happen. What exactly was the nature of this ‘weird interaction’?”

It seemed like Sisyphus knew what the cause was, so Zagreus tried to choose his words carefully in order to not dissuade him from saying more. “Well, Theseus was riding my case about what happened last month, and Achilles happened to walk up at that same time. Theseus said something about how Achilles should know more about being a team player than anyone, and he suddenly got all quiet. Then he took Theseus’ side in the matter!” Zagreus couldn’t help but raise his voice a bit there at the end. It was still unbelievable to him that Achilles would agree with the egotistical coach on anything.

The whole time, Sisyphus continued nodding as if it was exactly what he was expecting to hear. “I’m going to tell you something,” Sisyphus said, a grave look entering his eyes. “But you have to promise not to go spreading it around.”

“I swear, mate. I just want to know what’s bothering my friend.”

“Okay.” Sisyphus looked all around the room full of satyrs. He tapped the side of his cup with his forefinger, clearly unsure how to begin. “It was two years ago, when I was a freshman and Achilles was a sophomore. There was this other guy on the team⸺Patroclus, who was Achilles’ age. They both were scouted to live in Hades House. Achilles for his athletic talent, and Patroclus for his grades. For him, being on the football team was just a plus.” Sisyphus furrowed his brow. “Anyhow, they were dating. Would sleep over in each other’s rooms all the time, from what I heard.”

Zagreus nodded. He had known that Achilles was gay from the first time they had met. No man _that_ handsome and _that_ nice at the same time could ever be straight. He had made several veiled references to an ex of his in the time that Zagreus had known him, but it had been clear from the context every time that he hadn’t wanted to talk about it. Zagreus hadn’t pushed him, as much as he had wanted to. It felt good to finally get the scoop.

“Were they good together?” Zagreus asked.

“ _Perfect_ for each other,” Sisyphus said. “The only thing is⸺and I don’t really know how to say this, Z⸺Achilles was a different guy back then. He’s always had the best arm on the team, but back then he really acted like he knew it. Constantly bragging, even insulting other members of the team. Patroclus was the only person, aside from Coach Theseus, who could put up with Achilles’ attitude.”

 _That_ Zagreus had a difficult time imagining. He had never known someone as humble as Achilles. It was thanks to him that Zagreus knew half as much about the game as he did. Achilles’ advice was always kind, never overbearing, and he only gave it when it was clear that someone really needed it. Thinking of him as a braggart made Zagreus’ brain hurt. 

One question needed answering before anything else. “Where is Patroclus now?” he asked. He had never heard of someone with that name. Not only on the football team, but _anywhere_ at the university. It was a big place, but Zagreus’ father being the dean made him privy to the news surrounding notable students from all walks of life. It was strange to not know of someone that came from his own fraternity.

“That’s the part that I was getting to,” Sisyphus said. “The upsetting part. It was at our homecoming game versus the Trojan Stallions. Achilles was mad that our homecoming would be against such a lame team. He said it was an insult.”

“The Trojan Stallions are one of our biggest rivals, though.”

“True. Their team wasn’t nearly as good as it is today two years ago, however. It doesn’t matter.” Sisyphus took another sip of Fountain Water. “Anyway, Achilles said that if our biggest game of the year was going to be against such a bad team, then we could play without him. He refused to even go on the field.”

“He _refused_ to play?” Zagreus asked. “How can someone just do that?”

Mercifully, Sisyphus didn’t bring up Zagreus’ own absences during the last month. “Coach Theseus let him get away with a lot because of his skill,” he explained. “And in truth, he was right. We really didn’t need him for that game. The score was 48 to 7 at the end of the third quarter.”

Zagreus whistled. There had never been a game that one-sided against the Stallions during his time at the school.

“But here’s the weird thing. Coach Theseus didn’t want anyone to _know_ that his star quarterback had such a bad attitude. He also didn’t want the other team to know that we were down our best player. So he took Patroclus, who was usually on the bench, and had _him_ put on Achilles’ jersey.”

“Is that…even allowed?” Zagreus asked.

Sisyphus shrugged. “When the press asked Coach Theseus about it, he insisted that it was just an honest mistake. Dean Hades had his back about it, and their lawyers made the whole thing disappear.”

“Hold on a second,” Zagreus said, holding up his hand. The Fountain Water was starting to make his head feel fuzzy. “Why did _lawyers_ and the _press_ need to get involved?”

Sisyphus grimaced, staring off into the middle distance. “There was this _guy_ on the Stallions back then named Hector. Real big dude with a nasty temper. He was one of their best linebackers. He wanted to prove that Achilles wasn’t as big a deal as everyone said, and was posting all over social media about how hard he was going to take him down during the game.”

“That seems excessive,” Zagreus said.

“Excessive is right. Once it was clear that they weren’t going to win, Hector pretty much made it his sole mission to tackle Patroclus. I even heard him shouting at his teammates to stay out of his way, just so that he could get the opportunity.”

Zagreus started to feel like he knew where this story was going.

“Well, Patroclus had one particularly good breakaway where it seemed like the defensive linemen just _let_ him through. Turns out, they had. Hector made them all stand down just so he could confront Achilles out in the open, where everyone could see.”

“That goes against everything that football is about,” Zagreus said. He wasn’t a perfect sportsman by any stretch of the imagination, but he would never consider making his team do something like _that_ just to settle a personal vendetta.

“I know. Hector’s plan worked, though. As soon as it looked like Patroclus had his momentum going, _wham_ ! Hector swung in out of nowhere and completely ruined him. It was a nasty hit, one of the worst I’ve ever seen. When I say that Patroclus went _flying_ off the field, I really mean it. His left leg looked like it had been through a _meat grinder_ , Z. I’m talking a torn ACL, MCL, _and_ PCL. 

“Wow.” Zagreus didn’t know what else to say about it. “What happened after that?”

“Patroclus had to go to the hospital, obviously. Achilles was devastated. But rather than ride in the ambulance with him, he chose to put his own jersey back on and finish the game. He scored two more touchdowns before it was over and didn’t let Hector touch him once. The man was possessed.” 

Sisyphus paused to take another drink. “Story doesn’t have a happy ending, though. Patroclus was here on athletic scholarship, you see. Once the doctors assured us that he wasn’t going to be able to play again for at least a couple years, Dean Hades took the scholarship away. Patroclus’ family couldn’t afford to keep sending him here, so he dropped out. 

“Achilles thinks it’s his fault. _We_ all know that it was just a freak accident. Hell, it never would have even happened if Coach Theseus hadn’t made Patroclus put on Achilles’ jersey! Achilles won’t forgive himself for it, though. Coach Theseus won’t let him forget about it either. Anytime it seems like he’s about to go against him, he says something like he did on Monday to remind him. Achilles will usually go into a bit of a dark place after that, but he should be back to his normal self before too long.”

Zagreus stood, stunned, not knowing what else to do besides continue to sip his beverage. He had no idea that Achilles had that kind of history. After all, he’d been on the team for over a year and no one had said anything about it. He could understand why, though. It was the type of thing that people didn’t like to talk about.

“Do Achilles and Patroclus still…you know, talk?” Zagreus asked. “I mean, they didn’t break up just because Patroclus had to drop out, did they?”

Sisyphus shook his head. “No, Prince Z, I don’t think you get it,” he said, making firm eye contact. “They haven’t talked since _before that game_. Achilles felt so ashamed of himself that he couldn’t bring himself to leave his room, let alone visit the hospital. Not unlike…well, not unlike you, until recently.” Sisyphus winced a little bit. Seemed like the Fountain Water was getting to him, too.

Zagreus wanted to retort, but he knew that the larger man was right. Monday had been the first time that he’d left his room before noon since coming back to school. Achilles must have been the one to drag him out because he had gone through the same thing. He knew exactly what it was like to want to shut out the outside world. 

Sisyphus did them both a favor and moved the conversation along. “Anyway, no one from his family even came to pick up his stuff. Apparently they live super far away. The university offered to hire movers to take everything to his new apartment. One day, when Achilles came back from class, all of Patroclus’ stuff was just gone. All traces of him, erased from the house.”

In spite of the thundering music throughout the room, the mood in their corner had been dampened significantly. They stood there silently for a time, both of them likely thinking of what Achilles must still be going through.

“Do you know what happened to him?” Zagreus asked after a time. “Patroclus, I mean. What’s he doing today?” If it had really been two years since this incident, then surely he had moved on with his life by now.

“Yeah, we still text from time to time,” Sisyphus said. “I’ve even been over to his apartment once or twice, just to catch up. He still lives in town, actually. The university pays for his treatment, but he has to go to the specific place that their insurance provides. Elysium Private Practice is the name of it. He says that he stays close because it’s convenient to there, but I honestly just think that he’s torturing himself.”

“Wait, so he lives _here_?” Zagreus said. “As in, we could drive to his apartment?”

“I suppose,” Sisyphus said. “I don’t think he’d appreciate me bringing a stranger by his place, though. I could give you his number, but I think that you have larger problems to worry about.”

Zagreus was confused. “Like what?”

“Like Thanatos coming directly over here, for example.”

Zagreus whipped his head around just in time to witness Thanatos marching all the way across the living room towards them. Though he still had his distinctly _Than_ elegant handsomeness about him, he had definitely been drinking. The black tie that he always wore was hanging loose around his neck, and his shirt was untucked on the right side. The trademark purple jacket that he never went anywhere without was nowhere to be seen. Another bad sign.

Zagreus’ immediate instinct to run was overcome by his confusion at what Thanatos was even doing here. Back when they had been hanging out, he said that Satyr House parties were revolting, and that he would sooner drop dead than be seen at one.

“Zagreus,” Thanatos said, coming to a stumbling halt in front of them. “Zag. Zaggy.” His stance was relaxed, but that unwavering focus in his eyes that made him who he was was still there. 

“I think I’ll leave the two of you alone,” Sisyphus said, unsubtly sliding off in a random direction. 

Fucking traitor.

“Hi, Than,” Zagreus said, not even trying to hide the fact that he was uncomfortable. He was too deep into his cup of Fountain Water for that. 

“Zagreus.” Thanatos said his name again, putting a hand on his shoulder. Zagreus wanted to brush it away, but Thanatos’ touch felt so _good_ , even when he was inebriated. Hell, _especially_ when he was inebriated. “You need to come with me to the kitchen. I’ve got something set up for us there.”

He had something _set up_ for them in the kitchen? Ten seconds ago, Zagreus hadn’t even known that Thanatos was at this party. Now they were going to do _activities_? He began leading Zagreus through the party, and Zagreus allowed himself to be led. He always broke when confronted by those eyes.

When they got to the kitchen, Zagreus found half of Satyr House crammed into it. They were packed in like sardines, either sitting on the counters or pressed into the doorways. Thanatos and Zagreus had to squeeze just to get through. When they did, he saw that everyone was looking at something that Thanatos had set up on the only island in the room. 

It was two lines of shot glasses, each filled with a clear liquid that could only be vodka.

“Oh, _no_ ,” Zagreus said, trying to back out of the room. The satyrs behind him weren’t having it, however, and wouldn’t let him through the doorway. 

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Thanatos said, walking around to the other side of the island. “Not this time. If you won’t talk to me, that’s fine. We’ll just have to let our livers do the talking.”

 _Zagreus_ had been the one not talking to _him_? Which of them had been the one to practically run out of the lounge when the other came walking down the stairs on Monday? Unless Achilles hadn’t been lying, and it really had been a coincidence… 

“Fine,” Zagreus said, taking his position on the other side. “If this is how you want it, then this is how it will be. Just tell me when to start.”

“I’ll let Charon call it,” Thanatos said.

Charon, one of the people closest to the table, didn’t look surprised to have been called out. He never betrayed much emotion on his face at all, really. He wasn’t a member of Satyr House. He didn’t even go to Tartarus Tech. He was, however, the primary drug dealer for almost the entire university. If someone was smoking it, snorting it, or doing it off of a sorority girl’s backside, the transaction had probably been overseen by Charon in some capacity. Everyone loved him. 

“Ughh…” Charon moaned, stepping up to stand between Zagreus and Thanatos. He had a spacy look in his eye, probably high off something he had been selling to the satyrs. “Uhm.” He looked around the room. Everyone was staring at him expectantly. He raised a hand above his head. “Mmm, hah.” His impossibly deep voice made the strange combination of noises sound natural. He brought his hand down, signaling the start of the competition.

Zagreus picked up and slammed his first shot. He almost spit it back up. Did they always have to use the worst liquors imaginable for stuff like this? He could tell before he had even put it in his mouth that it was Tunnels, Satyr House’s preferred brand. Which is to say that no one else on campus would willingly imbibe it without being forced. Which Zagreus had been.

He didn’t have time to complain. He swallowed the second and third shots as well, doing his best to not let the liquor touch his tongue and doing an alright job at it. He had to stop and gag for a moment after the third, giving him an opportunity to check in on Thanatos’ progress.

As always, he was pounding shot after shot like it was nothing. He didn’t even make a face when the bottom shelf vodka passed his lips. As Charon looked on impassively, the satyrs alternated between chanting Thanatos’ name and “Shots! Shots! Shots!”

So Thanatos was the favorite to win, was he? Well, Zagreus would show them. He reached for his fourth shot.

He did not show them. Some time later, he found himself parked on the couch with a red solo cup filled with water in his hand. Real water, not Fountain Water. He wasn’t sure who had brought him here or where they had gone, but Thanatos certainly wasn’t around. Smug, handsome bastard. 

He stared at the ceiling, trying to stop it from moving. At this stage, vomiting was not only inevitable, but was probably the best move to get all of the horrible vodka out of his system. The only question was whether he should try to make it to the bathroom, or just accept the facts and do it on himself. He reached up to cover his mouth and found that someone had put one of the Satyr Sacks in his hand. Convenient.

When he was done doing his business, he looked up to find Sisyphus standing in front of the couch. “Heard about your contest.”

“Oh…yeah?”

“Sorry I wasn’t there to see it, I was talking to one of the Pi Beta Phi girls. Everyone calls them witches, but I don’t think they’re so bad.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“I think we should probably go. I have another appointment with Baldy tomorrow morning, and you look like you need to get some rest.” Through his delirium, Zagreus remembered that Baldy was Sisyphus’ nickname for the bald practice dummy that Theseus made him train with almost every morning. 

“Uhh...uh huh.”

“And I’ll…I’ll just take care of that for you.” Sisyphus pinched the Satyr Sack between his thumb and forefinger, and gingerly lifted it into the nearest trash can. “Let’s get you home.”

Sisyphus let Zagreus lean on him all the way back to Hades House. The walk normally only took about five minutes, but that stretched into ten at the rate Zagreus made them move. Any faster, and the sidewalk would’ve been painted with a stomach cocktail of Tunnels, Fountain Water, and the trout that Zagreus had eaten for dinner. In hindsight, fish had been a bad choice.

“We’re here, Prince Z,” Sisyphus said as they approached. “I’m gonna call Achilles and get him to meet us out here. He can take you inside and make sure that you get up to your room okay.” He took out his phone. 

“Hold on,” Zagreus said. While he was still a far shot from being sober, his head had cleared slightly on the walk back. He had remembered something. “Before you do that…I want you to text me Patroclus’ number. Please. I wanna help.”

Sisyphus looked torn for a moment. “Tell you what. You text me when you wake up tomorrow. If you still remember our conversation, then I’ll give it to you. I don’t want you contacting him until you’ve thought about it with a clear head.”

“That sounds fair,” Zagreus said, nodding emphatically and immediately regretting it. “You have yourself a deal, mister big…tall…man.”

“I’m gonna go ahead and call Achilles, now.”

“Yes, please do.”

-

When Zagreus woke up, he _did_ remember their conversation, and he was more resolved than ever to do something about Achilles and Patroclus’ situation. The sooner the better. Achilles had done Zagreus a big favor. Not only by getting him out of bed on Monday, but by always being there for him as someone he could look up to and count on. Giving him a little jump start to the healing process with his ex-boyfriend was the least that he could do. 

Sisyphus followed through on his end of the bargain, giving Zagreus Patroclus’ number as soon as he asked for it. Well, it had taken him an hour or so to respond, but that was likely due to having to push a practice dummy up and down the field fifty times before having an opportunity to look at his phone. He followed the number up with another warning not to treat the situation lightly, which Zagreus did his best to take to heart. These were people’s lives he was dealing with, not petty friendship drama. 

Unfortunately, after an entire morning of calling and texting, Zagreus didn’t receive any response from Patroclus. He had spent hours pacing his room, clearing a path to move through all the dirty clothes. In that time, he thought that he had devised the perfect plan to get the two speaking again. That plan was time dependent, however. He needed to speak to Patroclus, and soon.

Luckily, he had all day to find a way to get in touch with the man. The only class he had on Fridays was Dr. Dionysus’, and he didn’t take attendance. He said that requiring people to attend would be a disruption to a “properly delicious learning environment”, whatever that meant.

He _did_ have lots of homework that he could be doing for his other classes. Dr. Athena in particular had a large amount of work waiting for him on the school’s online learning portal, Academyx. However, his father had strong-armed all of his teachers into giving him blanket extensions on his assignments for as long as he needed it. It was to help him catch up after his…break. He didn’t want to think about that right now. Instead, he was going to use the free time that it afforded him to help out a friend.

When Patroclus hadn’t responded to any of Zagreus’ messages, he had suggested to Sisyphus that they drive over to his place. He had refused. First, on the grounds that Sisyphus had his own studying to do. Second, on the grounds that bringing someone Patroclus had never met over to his place to try to get him back with his ex-boyfriend would not be a chill thing to do. Sisyphus said that he could try to set something up in the next couple weeks, but Zagreus didn’t have that sort of time. 

“Is, is…something wrong, Zagreus?” a timid voice asked from his doorway. 

He looked up to find Dusa standing there, a Swiffer Sweeper mop clutched in her hands. “I, I was just cleaning the hallway, and I saw you pacing, and…” She stared at her feet. “You probably want me to leave you alone. I get it. Well, I’ll just…”

An idea occurred to Zagreus. “Dusa, I’m trying to get in contact with someone that used to live here. Do you remember Patroclus?”

Dusa’s ears perked up at that. If it was possible, she started to look even more nervous. “I remember him,” she said, looking down the hallway toward Achilles’ room. “He, he was always nice to me, even though I’m just the maid. Would stop to talk to me almost every day, actually.”

“Good.” Zagreus took Dusa’s hand and gently pulled her into the room. She yelped as he did so, dropping the Swiffer onto the floor in the hallway. He closed the door behind her. If Achilles was home, Zagreus didn’t want him to overhear their conversation. 

“It’s, it’s…really messy in here, Zagreus,” she said, eyes crawling across the floor. 

“Never mind that,” Zagreus said. “When Patroclus moved out, no one came to get his stuff, right? The university had to hire movers to come get it.”

“Th…that’s right…”

“ _So_ …” Zagreus was starting to get excited. “Who told those people where to go?”

“Well…” Dusa scratched her forehead. It _had_ been two years ago. “If, if I remember correctly, Patroclus’ family emailed his, his new address to the Director of Housing, then he emailed it to me so I could hire the movers…” 

“Yes!” Zagreus punched the air, making Dusa jump. “Dusa! I need you to _find_ that email and give me Patroclus’ new address.”

Dusa’s eyes went even wide with alarm. “Oh, oh, oh, Zagreus, I, I don’t think I can⸺”

Zagreus grabbed her by the shoulders and brought his face down to her level. She went stiff as a board. “Dusa, I swear that I wouldn’t ask this of you if it weren’t important. _Please_ find that email for me.”

Dusa bit her bottom lip, doing her best to look anywhere but Zagreus’ eyes. 

“You said something earlier that bothered me,” Zagreus said, softening his grip on her arms. “Dusa, you aren’t _just_ the maid. You’re my friend. You’re the friend of me and everyone else who lives in this godforsaken house. You have one of the purest, kindest hearts that I’ve ever seen, and _I_ know that _you_ know that Achilles needs this. For his sake and Patroclus’, I need you to find that email.”

For a tense moment, Zagreus thought that she still wasn’t going to do it. Then she slackened in his grip and sighed. “If, if I find the email for you, will you let me do your laundry?”

Zagreus smiled. “Deal.” 

-

So it was that Zagreus found himself standing in front of apartment number 1516 in the Diali, a complex on the other side of town. It was a nice building. It gave Zagreus hope that Patroclus was doing well for himself outside of the fishbowl of school. 

He shuffled his feet a bit before knocking. After all, Patroclus had moved here two years ago. It was very possible, maybe even likely, that he had moved again since then. Zagreus might have come all this way for nothing. Well, no way to know for sure except to try. 

He knocked on the door.

He had already decided that if there was no answer, he would wait until someone came home. He did have all day, and it had been an expensive Uber. He didn’t want to waste money coming back later.

Luckily, the door opened after only a handful of moments. If it was Patroclus on the other side, that time might have been due to him having to limp to the door. 

The person who opened the door seemed to be around Zagreus’ age, which was a good sign. He wasn’t at all how Zagreus had pictured him, though. He had imagined Achilles’ partner as someone just as handsome and radiant and he was. This person had a long, drawn face with a pouty mouth. His black hair hung in greasy ringlets, looking like it hadn’t been washed in some time. He looked Zagreus up and down. He was suddenly hyperconscious of the Tartarus Tech shirt that he was wearing.

“Can I help you?” he asked.

“Hello,” Zagreus said, giving a small wave. “My name is Zagreus. It’s Patroclus, right? I’m the one who’s been blowing your phone up these past couple of hours.”

“Oh.” The man’s face remained impassive. “How did you find out my address?”

Zagreus supposed that confirmed that this was who he was looking for. 

“I found it in the school’s database,” he lied. No sense throwing Dusa under the bus if Patroclus decided to press charges for stalking. “They still have it from when they hired the moving team. My father’s the dean, you see. Exclusive access and all that.”

For a second Zagreus thought that mentioning that his father was the man who revoked Patroclus’ scholarship was a mistake, but his facial expression still didn’t change. “I see,” Patroclus said. “I don’t know what you came here for, but you need to leave.” He moved to close the door.

“Wait!” Zagreus said, putting his hand on it. Patroclus paused. “Wait, please. Did you read any of my text messages? Listen to my voicemails?”

“No,” Patroclus said flatly.

Zagreus couldn’t help but wince. He had put a lot of effort into those text messages. “Okay, well look, mate. I heard all about what happened between you and Achilles, and I want to help.”

Patroclus showed the first sign of emotion that he had in the conversation thus far. His neutral, pouty expression turned into an outright grimace. “That’s in the past, and it’s none of your business. Anyway, I’ve moved on. Now go away.” He pushed again on the other side of the door, but Zagreus pushed back even harder. He had _not_ come all this way for nothing.

He remembered what Sisyphus had told him. “But you _haven’t_!” he said.

“What do you mean?” Patroclus asked, actually raising his voice.

“You haven’t moved on at all!” Zagreus said, pushing the door back hard enough that Patroclus stumbled backwards. It flew back against the wall. He felt bad for getting into a shoving match against someone with a lame leg, but it was too late to take it back now. “You still live in the same town where you dropped out of college two years ago, and still go to the same physical therapist that that school is paying for!” He realized that he was getting riled up and tried to reel it back in. He softened his tone. “I think that you do that because you know that things aren’t finished between you and that school. And, unless I’ve majorly missed my guess, Achilles is a big part of that.”

Patroclus looked ready to throttle Zagreus before he added the last part. When he did, he sighed and took another step back. “You may as well come in,” he said. “I can tell that I’m not going to be able to get you to go away.”

Zagreus was in. He walked inside, feeling proud of himself.

In spite of his unwashed appearance, Patroclus’ apartment was pristine. The tables and countertops looked clean and freshly wiped, and Zagreus couldn’t see a speck of dirt anywhere on the floor. The only thing wrong with it was the decor, or lack thereof. There wasn’t a single piece of art or _anything_ on the walls. Nothing at all to indicate who the person that lived here was.

“I didn’t think I’d be here for very long when I first moved in,” Patroclus said, as if sensing Zagreus’ thoughts. He closed the door and walked over to the couch. Indeed, Zagreus saw that he walked with a significant limp. 

He took a spot in one of the chairs across from him. “Why’s that?” he asked.

“After I dropped out of school, I knew that I didn’t want to go back home,” Patroclus said. “The person who lived here before me was traveling for business, so I was subletting for the first six months. I thought that by the time that was up, I would know what I wanted to do. Well, that didn’t happen. When the man who was living here told me that he’d decided to move to the country he was working in permanently, it was easier for me to just pick up the lease rather than look for a new place. It’s difficult to pay for while working a retail job, but it’s nice, and I like it. And like you said, it’s close to Elysium.” Patroclus looked around the room. “Never got around to decorating, though.”

“I think that’s because you know that you don’t belong here,” Zagreus said. “You belong at Tartarus, with Achilles.”

“You claim to know a lot about me for someone that’s never met me,” Patroclus said, eyebrows drawing down. 

“Sisyphus told me everything,” Zagreus said. He didn’t see any way around admitting that much. It was a short list of people that he could have heard it from. “Including that you were invited to Hades House for your grades, not your football talent. You may have lost your athletic scholarship, but I’m sure that there are academic scholarships that you could apply for.” 

Patroclus shook his head. “Money isn’t the reason that I didn’t go back,” he said. “That’s just what I told the guys on the team. The truth is that Dean Hades expelled me when he found out what I did.”

“ _What_?” Zagreus asked. “Are you talking about wearing Achilles’ jersey? But that was Theseus’ idea!” If this was true, then he would march straight into his father’s office and kick his ass. And Theseus’ too, just for good measure. 

Patroclus exhaled in a way that was almost reminiscent of a laugh. “Sounds like Sisyphus got that part of the story wrong,” he said. “It wasn’t Theseus’ idea for me to put on Achilles’ jersey. It was mine.”

Zagreus blinked. “I’m not following.”

Patroclus sighed again. “Achilles is a talent that our world only gets to see a couple times a generation. With his arm, he could take the NFL by storm and go down as one of the best football players that this world has ever known. But what team would sign a quarterback that refuses to play if the other team isn’t good enough? Theseus knew that we had the game versus the Stallions in the bag no matter what, and couldn’t care less what Achilles did or didn’t do. But _I_ knew that if word got out about Achilles intentionally sitting out our homecoming game, he would spoil his chances of getting drafted to the NFL. So I _begged_ Theseus to let me put on his jersey and play in his place.”

“But that plan makes so sense!” Zagreus exclaimed. “It would be obvious to anyone paying close enough attention that you weren’t Achilles. It would be far better to just lie and say that Achilles was sick or something. By playing for him and then getting injured, you all but ensured that word would get out about what he did.”

Patroclus shrugged. “What can I say? I was young and stupid. The point is that word _didn’t_ get out about it, one way or another. Your father’s team of lawyers saw to that. I’m technically violating an NDA just by talking to you.” He waved a hand, as if the possibility of being sued by Zagreus’ dad meant nothing to him. “The point is that Achilles is still on the team, and is in the process of being fought over by every NFL recruiter in the country. I see it all the time on the news. Everything worked out in the end.”

“But don’t you see? Everything _hasn’t_ worked out,” Zagreus said. “You’re sitting here in an empty ass apartment, _sad_ , and Achilles is locking himself in his room at Hades House half the time mourning the fact that you aren’t there, _also sad_. If neither of you are happy, then nothing has worked out at all.” 

Patroclus’ mouth quirked down into a frown. “I’m beginning to regret letting you into my apartment.”

“I’m being serious, here,” Zagreus said. “Achilles is miserable without you. I couldn’t see it before, but that was only because I didn’t know. To anyone who knew you both, it’s obvious that he’s reliving what happened every single day.”

That was when Patroclus lost it. He sat back in his chair and threw his hands up in the air. “If Achilles is so miserable without me, then how come he never came to visit me in the hospital? How come he hasn’t called me a _single_ time in the past two years to check in?” He crossed his arms.

Seeing him angry, Zagreus understood. He saw a spark inside of him that hadn’t been there at any other point during their conversation. That spark was like the warmth that Achilles exuded all the time boiled down and concentrated. This man may not be as beautiful or as strong as Achilles, but he was just as _alive_. Or at least he had been, two years ago. It was suddenly more important than ever for Zagreus to succeed.

“It’s because he’s ashamed,” Zagreus said quietly.

“What was that?”

“Achilles has _changed_ these past two years, Patroclus. He’s become the man that I suspect you saw in him all along. Strong, but kind. Striving to make sure that _everyone_ succeeds, not just him. I think that he uses the shame from that night to motivate himself to be better.”

Patroclus’ expression softened somewhat at that. The spark didn’t go out, though. “If what you say is true, then seeing me now wouldn’t benefit him at all. I want him to keep growing, keep getting better. The me that exists here is just a shade, a reminder of a time when he failed to be the best he could be. According to you, the me that exists in his mind is pushing him higher, forcing him to reach new heights. Our meeting would be fruitless.”

Zagreus shook his head. “No, that’s wrong. His shame is forcing him to be a _better_ person, true, but not a _happier_ person. Eventually, that shame is going to eat him alive from the inside, if it hasn’t already. He might not break this year, or even next year. But someday, he _will_ break, and he might not be able to put the pieces back together.”

“You’re making all of this up,” Patroclus said. “You had _one_ conversation with someone who didn’t even get all the details of the story right. How could you possibly claim to know the innermost workings of Achilles’ mind?”

Zagreus thought for a moment before answering. It might _seem_ like Patroclus had pulled back, but Zagreus thought that he _wanted_ him to counter his argument. He had to defeat every doubt in Patroclus’ mind one by one until there were none left. Only then could Patroclus bring himself to accept the truth, that reconciliation with Achilles was the only path to happiness for either of them. To do that, Zagreus had to bare himself to the man fully. 

“It’s because we’re the same,” he said at last. “Me and Achilles. Right now, I feel like I’m going through something very similar to what Achilles went through two years ago. At the end of last year, my freshman year, I was a wreck. There were lots of people putting pressure on me. My father, my teachers, Coach Theseus, my girlfriend, who was three years older than me and about to graduate. I felt like they all had these expectations about who or what I was supposed to be, and weren’t giving me any room to just be _myself_.”

He looked to see if what he was saying was having an effect on Patroclus. The man nodded for him to go on. 

“I wanted the end of the year to be a clean break. I broke up with my girlfriend, convinced my mom to let me borrow her car, and spent the first couple weeks of summer road tripping around the country with my friends from high school. It was _great_. I turned my phone off for ninety percent of every day and just drove, blasting music out of the stereo and stopping to make a fool of myself at every tourist attraction along the way. I felt alive for the first time in months.

“I had to come back pretty quickly to start training for the football season, though. When it was just football, things were alright. At the end of the day, I play because I like it. I like my teammates and I like the game. I thought that those couple weeks of letting loose would be enough to get me through another entire year of school. They weren’t. As soon as classes started back up, it was the same shit all over again. 

“I worked my ass off at class every day, worked my ass off at football practice every evening, and tried to drink myself to death every night. I even found someone new to terrorize with my patheticness, a really nice guy named Thanatos who just joined Hades House this year. I think the two of you would get along. He’s studying to be an _immigration lawyer_ . Can you even believe it? He’s so goddamn sweet, and so committed to making this world a better place. And _I’m_ so emotionally unavailable that I couldn’t even admit to myself that I had feelings for him. I didn’t even tell him when I…well, I’m getting to that part.

“The point is that I couldn’t take it anymore. Everything was the same as it had been, and we were barely a month into the semester. I went to the school’s therapist and I told him…” Zagreus moistened his lips. “Told him that I was thinking about ending it. Killing myself, that is. Suffice it to say, he deemed me a danger to myself and had me committed to an institution. For two weeks. I had the opportunity to call anyone I wanted and tell them what was happening, but I couldn’t. It would have killed me to tell any of them.

“For two weeks no one hears from me or even knows where I am, and then the institution just spits me out again as if I’m supposed to be all better. Well, I’m not. They have me on these antidepressants, and they’re working a little bit, but they’re also making my moods even swingier than before. Sometimes I don’t even know what’s about to come out of my mouth.”

Patroclus’ eyebrows were so high on his forehead that they were about to escape into his hairline. It was probably time for Zagreus to tie it back to the point.

“Anyway, it’s been almost three weeks since I got back, and everyone is breathing down my neck to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. I’ve gotten some more really weird news since then, which we don’t need to get into, and…and Achilles has been the main person helping me get through it. Because he knows what it’s like to want to shut the world out and curl up into a ball, hoping that tomorrow you wake up as someone capable of dealing with all the shit that life has to throw at you. Because he’s _still_ going through it. 

“I don’t know what the solution to my problem is, but I know the solution to his. It’s for you two to finally sit down, talk, and start working on healing old wounds. Because if you don’t, then I promise that it’s only going to get worse. For both of you.”

They sat in silence for several moments after that, neither of them meeting the other’s gaze. Eventually, Patroclus sat back on the couch and breathed out a heavy sigh. “Well, that was…a lot, Zagreus,” he said. “For the record, I’m really sorry that that’s what you’re going through.”

Zagreus shook his head. “That’s not what I need to hear. Just promise me that if I can get you two in the same room, that you’d be willing to have a conversation.”

Patroclus didn’t have to think very long. “I’ll do it,” he said. “But we’re not surprising him. He has to come to the conversation willingly. If your plan was to stuff me in one of the changing room lockers and have me jump out at him, then you’re going to do way more harm than good.”

Zagreus smiled. “Don’t worry. If I know him at all, he’ll come to you willingly. As for how it happens, you just leave that part to me.”

-

The next day was their game versus the Asphodel Fireballs. Theseus was planning it to be their big comeback game, since it would be the first one they played with Zagreus back on the team. They weren’t bad without him by any means. After all, they did still have Achilles. The Fireballs were their biggest rivals in the conference, however, and they would need all hands on deck in order to squeak out a win.

Zagreus felt bad that he was going to have to ruin Theseus’ big plan. Not _that_ bad, since Theseus had allowed Patroclus to carry out his hairbrained scheme two years ago, but still a little bit. He felt worse for his teammates than anything. 

The energy in the changing room was at its peak. All of their teammates were whooping and hollering, jamming their helmets on their heads and jostling each other to be the first into the adjoining room. There, Theseus would address them all for the last time as a team before they headed out onto the field. 

Outside, the stadium would already be filled with people. Through the walls of the building, Zagreus could hear the marching band blasting at full volume from the stands. It was a perfect day for a football game, too. The sun was hanging high in the sky, doing a great job of fending off the early autumn chill. 

“Achilles!” Zagreus called. 

Achilles stopped and turned around. He was always at the back of the pack in times like this. He was a senior, and had been through this many times before. He liked to let the younger guys be the first ones through the doors.

“What is it, lad?” he asked. 

“I can’t find my mouthguard,” Zagreus said, jerking his thumb back towards where they had left their bags. “Come help me look for it.”

“Are you sure you brought it with you?” Achilles asked, following him back as the last of the men filed out. “I know you want it to be fitted to your teeth, but if you can’t find it the university has plenty of⸺”

He stopped as Zagreus rounded on him. “Alright, listen closely,” Zagreus said, stepping in close. “We don’t have a whole lot of time. Just until Theseus finishes his speech in there.” He could already hear the coach’s voice booming through the doorway, not even waiting for all of the players to be fully inside yet. “Five to ten minutes, tops.”

Achilles pulled back. “Lad, what’s going on?”

“Sisyphus told me what happened between you and Patroclus. All of it. And I can see how it’s affecting you.”

To his credit, Achilles took it very calmly. In fact, his face transformed into a mask of stone. It was exactly the look that Zagreus had seen on him on Monday. “Now is not the time, lad,” he said.

“Yes it is,” Zagreus said. “Patroclus is here. In the stands. Right now. And he wants to talk with you.”

“What the⸺do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Achilles yanked off his helmet and dropped it on the floor. Luckily, Theseus’ incredibly loud voice would prevent anyone in the other room from hearing it. “We haven’t spoken in two years, Zagreus⸺ _two years_! And you thought it would be a good idea to bring him here now?” He put a hand on his chest. “I’m going to have a fucking panic attack.”

That was more the reaction that Zagreus was expecting. He put both of his hands on either side of Achilles’ face and looked him in the eye. “Hey mate, come on, look at me.” His breathing ragged, Achilles locked eyes with Zagreus. There were tears welling in the corners of those beautiful blue eyes. “Look at me. Breathe slowly. That’s it. I know what you’re going through. I know because I’m going through it, too. We’re two ridiculously good-looking guys who both have a lot of trouble asking for help. That’s how you knew exactly what to do earlier this week to help me out. Give me the help that I couldn’t ask for. Well, this is me returning the favor. 

“I’ve spoken to Patroclus. We talked for literal hours yesterday. He doesn’t resent you for what happened two years ago. Hell, he’s proud of everything that you’ve accomplished since then. And it killed him to learn about what’s been going on with you lately. I want you to go to him, and I want you two to hash things out.” 

Achilles did his best to blink the tears away. “Zagreus, this is insane. It’s too much to take in. We’re supposed to be out on that field in _ten minutes_ . And you want me to go talk to him in the _stands_? What about the game?”

“The game doesn’t matter,” Zagreus said. “Football is what tore the two of you apart. For now, I say _fuck_ football. It’s been making you miserable ever since Patroclus left the team, and you know it. Both of us are impulsive, selfish assholes at our core. You’ve just learned to hide it better than I have. This time, I want you to do what makes you happy without a thought for anyone else. You’ve more than earned it.”

“I…” Achilles looked away from Zagreus, back toward the room that Theseus’ voice was coming from. “I…” He looked down at the jersey that he was wearing. “I’ll go. I will. I want to see him.” He wiped the last of his tears away with the back of his fist. “But what about Coach Theseus? He’ll flip when he learns that I’m not out there.”

“He’s not going to learn,” Zagreus said, smirking like a wolf. “Take that jersey off and give it to me.”

“What? No!” Achilles said reflexively. “I mean, maybe. Why?”

“Sisyphus, get over here,” Zagreus said. 

On cue, Sisyphus came out from the other side of the row of lockers. The large man was looking sheepish. 

“Were you there the whole time?” Achilles asked.

Sisyphus ignored the question. “I was just a boy fresh out of high school when everything went down two years ago. Well, I’m grown now, and I want to help you set things right.”

“This is crazy,” Achilles said. “You’re seriously going to try and pass him off as me?”

“He may be wider than you are,” Zagreus said. “But you two are almost the exact same height. Underneath all of the pads and stuff, no one’s going to be able to tell the difference. I say that we can keep it up at _least_ until halftime. That’s your window.”

“Coach Theseus probably won’t even notice that I’m not there,” Sisyphus added helpfully. “He only plays me when other folks get injured.”

In spite of it all, Achilles laughed. “We’d better hope that no one gets injured then, lads.” He stripped off his jersey and handed it over to Sisyphus, who had been standing there in just his pads. “But do you seriously think that two quarters will be enough for us to mend two years worth of hurt?” he asked Zagreus.

“No,” Zagreus said truthfully. “But it’ll be enough to get a start. And after you come back and help us kick some Fireball butt, he’ll be waiting for you after.”

By that time, Achilles had most of his gear off and was slipping on the jacket that he had worn in. It sounded like Theseus’ speech was winding down. There wasn’t much time left. “Blast,” Achilles said. “I don’t have a ticket to the game. How am I going to get in the gates?”

Zagreus produced one from his sports bag. He had double and triple checked it before he left that afternoon. He would _not_ have his entire plan fall apart because the Tartarus Shades’ quarterback got turned away at the gates of his own game. 

“Ha, of course you would think of that,” Achilles said, taking it and stuffing it in the pocket of his jacket. He started moving toward the exit. “I don’t know if I’m going to thank you for what you’re doing here, yet. But I appreciate the thought, Zagreus. And you too, Sisyphus.” 

“Just go, you beautiful man!” Zagreus said. 

Without another word, Achilles ducked out the door. He ran, still wearing his uniform pants and cleats.

“Hold on. Where are Zagreus and Achilles?” Theseus asked from the other room. 

“Sounds like it’s time to go,” Zagreus said, turning to Sisyphus. 

He had just finished putting Achilles’ jersey on. “Let’s do this,” he said, jamming his helmet onto his head. 

The two of them burst through the double doors just as Asterius was about to walk through to check on them. 

“I just misplaced my mouthguard, coach,” Zagreus said, holding it up for everyone to see. “Achilles was helping me look for it.”

As soon as they came through, Sisyphus pivoted and started walking toward the back of the group. Asterius’ eyes trailed him suspiciously. Before he could say anything, Theseus spoke up.

“Ah, I see. Well, glad to hear that my two most important players _missed_ my entire motivational speech. I will have to do the whole thing from the beginning.” He cleared his throat.

“There is no time, king,” Asterius said. His voice was accompanied by the sound of a thousand air horns sounding outside. That was their signal.

“Damn it!” Theseus said, throwing his clipboard on the ground. “Alright, fine. Go! Go, you lagards!” he said, waving them toward the doors that would lead outside. 

The whooping and hollering from the team began anew as they started to run out the doors. They led to a tunnel that fed right out onto the field, the mouth of which would have a dozen cameras pointed at it. Zagreus noticed that Sisyphus had managed to worm his way directly into the middle of the group. As he made to join them, Asterius caught his shoulder.

Theseus apparently didn’t notice, and stomped out after the last of the players. 

“What is it, Coach Asterius?” Zagreus asked, using his most innocent voice.

Asterius’ mouth formed a solid line. His eyebrows were knit together as he considered Zagreus. Eventually, he shook his head. “Nothing.” He pushed Zagreus forward. “Good luck out there.”

Zagreus didn’t wait to be told twice. The conditioning coach definitely suspected something, if he hadn’t outright noticed that it was the wrong person in Achilles’ uniform. That didn’t matter, so long as he didn’t tell Theseus until halftime. 

Zagreus knew they were golden once they got onto the field without incident. With everyone all lined up to start the game, not even Theseus would interrupt if he realized that something was wrong. Two years ago, Patroclus had only been discovered because he had been injured. If Sisyphus could just do a passable job and keep the cameras out of his face, they would be golden. 

Luckily, the Fireballs won the coin toss, and the Shades had to kickoff first. Sisyphus, or “Achilles”, wouldn’t have a lot to do on defense. The longer that they could keep him away from any major action on the field, the better. The first play ended up with the Shades stalling the Fireballs around the 25-yard line. When they lined up for the second one, Zagreus couldn’t help but stare off at the section of the stadium that he knew Patroclus was sitting in. 

He had texted him when he got there, so Zagreus knew that he was up there, somewhere. From this distance it was impossible to make out individual figures. Was Achilles already with him? Were the two on their way to a reconciliation? 

“We’re gonna destroy you,” the Fireball across from Zagreus said.

“I don’t care,” he said honestly. It was only the blow of the whistle that brought Zagreus back to reality. 

Every minute of the game was painstaking. The Fireballs’ offense only lasted for a few more plays, and then it was Sisyphus’ time to make or break. He surprised Zagreus by making an almost perfect pass to one of the offensive linemen, giving them a first down on their first play. He kept it up, gaining them ground slowly but surely. He didn’t do anything magnificent, but he made all of the right decisions. He tried to run the ball several times, and got taken down right away on each attempt. Zagreus thought that he probably _let_ himself get tackled, since scoring a breakaway would give up the game right away. Sisyphus’ passes were up to snuff, but his speed was nowhere close to that of Achilles. 

During their huddles, Sisyphus stared straight at the ground the entire time so that only the top of his helmet was visible. Whenever one of their teammates asked Achilles a direct question, Zagreus would jump in to answer it for them. When it was time to call plays on the field, the only time that it would be unavoidable for Sisyphus to speak, he raised the pitch of his voice and gave his best imitation of Achilles. It could use a little work, Zagreus thought, but he did a passing good job of it. Their teammates collectively confirmed Zagreus’ suspicions about them by being too stupid to notice. 

The end of the first quarter brought with it a huge sigh of relief from Zagreus. Even if they were discovered now, he would have given Achilles enough time to make a start. Enough time to show Patroclus how much he cared. Hell, even missing one _second_ of the game probably would’ve been enough to demonstrate that. 

He could only imagine what Hypnos was saying up in the broadcast booth. The man had been recruited to Hades House almost exclusively for his speaking ability, when he was awake. Zagreus had woken him up to fill him in on the plan earlier that day. The smarmy little asshole had been more than happy to help pull a prank on Coach Theseus, which was how Zagreus had explained it. His job was to convince the other commentators that there was nothing out of the ordinary about Achilles’ plays. If that failed, he was to fall asleep on top of the power button for the whole system so that no one could commentate anything. He was liable to do that anyway.

Remarkably, the second quarter also ended without incident. Back in the locker room, Zagreus sagged against the wall. They had done it. He didn’t know if his heart could have taken much more.

“ _Sisyphus_!” Theseus’ voice echoed throughout the room.

Oh no.

Zagreus ran over to find Theseus shaking Sisyphus by the front of his jersey. His helmet was discarded on the ground. The upperclassman wore a look of terror on his face. “ _What_ are you doing wearing that uniform?” 

Sisyphus raised his hands in a shrug. “Honest…mistake?”

Asterius made eye contact with Zagreus from the other side of the room, as if to say _I gave you this long_. 

Zagreus stepped forward. “It was my idea, coach,” he said. “I made Sisyphus do it.”

Theseus’ head whipped around. Zagreus could almost hear the sound of his teeth grating. “Flame Foot,” he muttered angrily. “It wasn’t enough for you to _ruin_ my offensive formation this entire month. You had to go and replace my quarterback with this _oaf_ , too?” He let Sisyphus go. “ _Where_ is Achilles?”

At that moment, the double doors swung inward and Achilles burst through. He had a look of dazed happiness on his face. That quickly faded as he took in the situation. “Hey there, lads. What’d I miss?”

“What’d you…” Theseus trailed off, going slack jawed. “Where have you been?”

“Just catching up with an old friend, that’s all,” he said with a smile. One of the most genuine smiles that Zagreus had seen on him in their whole friendship. “Nice job out there, Sisyphus. Couldn’t have done it any better myself.”

The score was only 21 to 14 in favor of the Fireballs. Very salvageable, now that their real quarterback had returned. 

Asterius came up behind Theseus and laid a hand on his shoulder. “He’s back now, my king,” he said. “Perhaps discussion can wait until after.” 

“Perhaps _what_?” Theseus asked, turning to look at his conditioning coach. It looked as if smoke was about to start rolling out of his ears. 

The two started arguing, which mostly entailed Theseus shouting and Asterius nodding along in agreement, peppering a word or two in from time to time. That would keep Theseus occupied at least until the halftime show was over, and might even stop him from impaling them on a spear. 

Zagreus, Sisyphus, and Achilles ignored the confused looks of the rest of the members of the team, who were probably just now putting together what had happened. They met up by their bags so that Achilles could get back into his gear and Sisyphus could give him his jersey. He put his own jersey back on as well, though they all suspected that he wouldn’t be needing it for the rest of that day.

“Well, how’d it go? What’d you talk about?” Zagreus asked. He was dying to know.

“I’m afraid that’s private, lad,” Achilles said, his smile never faltering for it second. “A man has to be allowed to keep some secrets, I’m afraid. It went perfectly well, though.” He paused a second. “Thank you. Both of you.”

“It was nothing,” Sisyphus said. Zagreus had fully warned him of the consequences before they had finalized the plan. His original plan had been for him to wear Achilles’ uniform, and for Sisyphus to wear his. Then they would have at least both had something on the line. Sisyphus had rejected that, however. He said that it wasn’t necessary for both of them to risk their expulsion if only one of them had to, and had gladly volunteered for the task.

Zagreus had a newfound appreciation for the man. 

They reconvened with the rest of the team a short time later. Theseus seemed to have cooled off a bit, though he very pointedly did not look at any of the three men who had coordinated their little stunt. He went over the game plan for the second half, without anything seeming out of place. He gave Zagreus and Achilles their usual instructions. Zagreus had half expected him to pull them both out of the game and lose on purpose out of spite. 

Instead, they lost entirely by accident. It turned out that having a quarterback who had not warmed up at all and was fresh off of a two years overdue conversation with his ex-boyfriend was a _bad_ idea. Who knew? Achilles probably played the worst game of his entire career, wearing that dopey smile the entire time. Whatever. Zagreus hoped that the NFL wouldn’t hold one off game against him. And besides, he had played pretty well during the first half.

-

“Wow. I have not missed this stuff,” Patroclus said that night, sniffing his cup of Fountain Water. He made a face. “Not one bit.”

“You’ve just gotta pinch your nose, see?” Achilles asked, doing as he said and taking a sip out of his cup. “No problem.”

“Forget about your nose,” Zagreus said, digging a finger into his ear. “Worry about my _ears_ after the talking-to that Theseus gave me and Sisyphus. Or the _yelling_ -to, more like.”

Achilles barked a laugh. “Just be glad that neither of you got expelled, lad. Or even kicked off the team, for that matter. You should be counting your lucky stars that no one in the control booth noticed.” As it turned out, Hypnos _had_ fallen asleep not on top of the power button, but on top of the entire control panel for the broadcast. They had salvaged hardly any useful footage from the entire game. Hypnos had been permanently banned from the control booth amidst a flurry of outraged phone calls and tweets from fans. 

“Yeah, I’m counting them,” Sisyphus said. “Just like I’m counting the number of appointments that I have coming up with Baldy this year.”

“How long did he say that you would be doing that for, this time?” Zagreus asked.

The larger man seemed to deflate. “Until the end of time,” he said.

None of them could help but laugh, and after a time Sisyphus even joined in. 

Achilles and Patroclus weren’t touching or anything, but the love in their eyes when they looked at each other was unmistakable. They definitely weren’t going to start dating each other or anything. At least not right away. Zagreus understood that they had an entirely new getting to know each other process that they had to undergo before they could even consider that. After two years of being apart, it didn’t seem like the two were in any hurry to rush into things.

After they chatted about the happenings of the past few days for a little bit longer, Sisyphus eventually wandered off to go try and locate his Pi Beta Phi witch from two nights ago. Zagreus used that as an opportunity to excuse himself, as well. He was dead tired, and wanted to give the two enough space to talk about whatever they needed. His work was finished. As he was leaving, Patroclus even went so far as to say that Zagreus was allowed to keep his number in his phone, which was nice of him. 

When Zagreus got back to Hades House and opened the door to his room, he was surprised to find it totally clean. Not only were all of his clothes folded neatly on his bed, everything in the room was exactly where it was supposed to go. Well, not everything was where it was supposed to be, but the places they were in were _better_ than the spots that Zagreus had devised for them. 

He stuck his head out into the hallway. “Dusa?” he called. “You around?” It was nearly eleven, far past the time that Dusa should have gone home for the day. But today was Saturday, so she shouldn’t have even been in at all. Zagreus saw bushy brown hair retreating around the corner up ahead. “I see you over there.”

Dusa timidly stepped out from behind the corner. “I, I, I came straight here from the game,” she said. “Just, just barely was able to finish in time.”

“You went to watch the game?” Zagreus asked, walking over to her. “Sorry that we played so poorly. You won’t believe the story when I tell you.”

“You, you played fine!” she said. “I normally only watch you, anyway.” Her eyes went wide as she clamped a hand over her mouth. “I, I mean⸺”

Zagreus interrupted her. “Dusa, are you free tomorrow?”

“Yes!” she said immediately, then clamped another hand over her mouth.

“I really appreciate you cleaning my room, but it’s calling to my attention how _empty_ it is. I think it’s high time that I do some decorating. Really settle into the place, you know? Maybe get, like, a cool rack of weapons or something to hang on the wall.” Dusa nodded. “If you came along with me to do some shopping tomorrow and gave your opinions, I promise to buy you lunch.” 

Dusa made an excited noise underneath her hands. “I would love that!” she said, taking her hands away and wiping them on her pants. 

“Good,” Zagreus said. He extended his arms out in front of him. “Can I give you a hug?”

“I, I would prefer it if you didn’t!” Dusa said. “I’ll see you tomorrow, though!” She scooted away, off down the stairs. 

Zagreus would never quite understand that woman, but he was happy to have her as a friend. The sound of her retreating footsteps warmed his heart.

Walking back into his room, he noticed that Dusa had removed the blanket he had draped over the mirror Nyx had given him. He found where she had put it and replaced it. He still wasn’t quite ready to face that. Not yet. After the events of the past couple of days, he felt a little closer, however. 

He laid down in bed and got one of the best sleeps that he had had in a long time.


	3. A Composition in F Major

Zagreus took one last look at himself in the mirror. His bow tie was straight and, remarkably, there were no wrinkles visible on his suit jacket. Unconsciously, he thumbed the smooth material of the lapel. The two sides were heterochromatic, like his eyes, though the coloring was different: red on the left, orange on the right. His favorite colors. 

_Red and green would be a bit too garish, I believe,_ Nyx had said when she gave it to him. It had been a gift to celebrate his admission to Hades House. _Red and orange, however, is just garish enough._

He shook his head. There had never been any doubt that he would get into Hades House. He was one of the only people in the fraternity’s history to be extended an invitation before the end of their first semester. He didn’t delude himself by thinking that it was due to anything but his lineage. 

The jacket was a physical representation of all of the shortcuts that he had been offered in life. Why, then, had he never bought a more normal looking one for the dozens of formal events that he had been forced to attend? 

He walked away from the mirror. The backstage area he was in was crowded with tables and makeup booths, all of them empty. The theater department had on a skeleton crew for the relatively simple production of the evening. Speaking of which… 

“You ready, boyo?” Skelly asked. The old man, still wearing his janitor’s uniform, had on a headset. “We’re set to start in uhh…” He consulted a clipboard held in his hands. “Five minutes ago. Whoops.”

Zagreus shook his head, chuckling. “I’m ready. But Skelly, what are you doing stage managing for the theater department?”

“Hey look pal, I just do whatever needs getting done around here, okay? I don’t ask you questions.”

“Fair point, I suppose,” Zagreus said. “In any case, I don’t think it’s me that you need to be worried about.” He looked over Skelly’s shoulder.

Behind him, Orpheus paced the backstage area fitfully. His fingers twitched in front of him. Zagreus wasn’t sure if he was rehearsing some of the chord progressions that he would need, or if it was a sign of an oncoming stroke. At least they had managed to get a fresh face of makeup and a new manicure on him. With luck, the crowd would be taken by how handsome he looked and not notice the wreck of a man underneath.

Skelly followed his gaze. “Yeah, uhh…are you sure this’ll work, pal? Boy over there is looking pretty rough.”

“It has to,” Zagreus said. “Or we’re _both_ screwed.” He eyed the large red curtain separating them from the event space. “How does the crowd look?” 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Skelly said. “I haven’t looked out there since your daddy got here. You know he gives me the heebie jeebies.” He shivered, as if to punctuate his point. 

Zagreus couldn’t blame him. He stalked over to the curtain and parted it just a little. Enough for him to peek out into the event space. 

Dozens of tables were set up throughout the space, each one filled with at least ten people. There were easily three hundred audience members, spread throughout the massive hall. He knew who he was supposed to be looking for, but couldn’t help but have his eyes drawn to the center, where he knew his father would be.

Dean Hades, as always, wore a simple black suit. The only spot of color on the entire thing was his red bowtie. This was contrasted sharply by the numerous rings adorning his fingers, each with a sparkling gemstone visible even in the dark light of the hall. The message of such an ensemble was clear: _I’m all about business, but I still want you to know that I’m richer than you_.

On his left sat Headmaster Chaos, visiting from Primordial University. Chaos wore a classy gray suit that was fitted tightly to their lean figure. It had spots of color decorating its cuffs and lapel framing a rich, purple tie. 

On Hades’ right sat Nyx, looking regal as always. She may have been his adopted mother, but it was tough for him to deny how gorgeous she looked that evening. She wore a black ball gown with sequin work up and down the torso. A matching shawl was looped through her elbows, showing off the porcelain-like quality of her skin. As he watched, she laughed at something Chaos had said. Despite her black lipstick and heavy eyeshadow, that laugh still lit up the room.

On Nyx’s right was no one, an empty seat reserved for Zagreus himself. He would not be going over there that evening.

He looked over his shoulder to see Hypnos, still snoozing against the wall. The pillow and blanket that Zagreus had generously bequeathed him seemed to be serving him just fine. 

When he looked back, his seat was occupied by Dr. Hermes, who seemed to be doing his best to zip around and visit every table at record speed. He and the rest of the Olympus Club had also been invited, of course. 

With just a cursory glance, Zagreus was able to pick out Lady Aphrodite. She was clinging to the arm of a man that Zagreus didn’t recognize. He was most likely just the latest in a long string of benefactors. Lady Aphrodite herself wasn’t actually a member of the Olympus Club, but she might as well have been. She moved through all of the single men and women of the Olympus Club like water through a sieve, somehow convincing each and every one that _their_ love would be forever. Zagreus could almost see down the front of her dress all the way from where he stood. 

He also spotted his uncles Zeus and Poseidon at a table not too far from Hades’. The two were lounging easily in their chairs, talking loudly in between large gulps of whatever they were drinking. His father had never gotten along well with his brothers for reasons that Zagreus had never understood. They were nice enough, if a little boisterous at times. With them being official members of the Olympus Club themselves, his father couldn’t uninvite them from events. He was always sure to put plenty of space between their two tables, however.

Zagreus couldn’t find the table where the members of Hades House other than himself would be at. It was usually all the way in the back of the hall, so it was no surprise that he couldn’t see it. That suited him just fine, since there was an individual at that table that he didn’t wish to see at the moment. 

“She out there, boyo?” Skelly asked.

Zagreus turned around and gave a thumbs up. He had seen the person he was looking for almost immediately. She stood out among the other members of the music program in a bright yellow dress that matched her hair. “We’re all set,” he told Skelly.

Chatter on the other side of the curtain began to die down as the lights dimmed. The crew of stagehands, who called themselves the Wringers, finally stopped their bustling around. It seemed like everyone was in position. 

“Good.” The old man walked up and forced a microphone into Zagreus’ hand. 

“Because it’s showtime, boyo.”

-

It all started four days previously, the Monday after their game against the Asphodel Fireballs. Zagreus was down in the lounge, studying. After Dusa helped him spruce up his room the previous day, he was trying to spend as much time as possible outside of it. He felt that if he so much as laid in bed for too long, he would wake up to find the entire room trashed again. That wasn’t too far from the truth, in all honesty. It had been his lying in bed for vast quantities of time that led to his room being in such disarray in the first place.

Regardless, he was motivated to keep it clean this time. That was why he was using the uncomfortable chairs of the lounge to study, rather than the immaculate desk that was waiting for him just upstairs.

While he tried in vain to make sense of the physics problem unfolding on the screen of his laptop, Achilles sat across from him. The upperclassman was staring at his phone, a goofy smile plastered across his lips. Probably texting Patroclus. They had only been reunited for two days, but it was already like no time at all had passed, according to Achilles. At least so far as their banter over text message was concerned, anyway. Apparently, Patroclus had seething hot takes on the way that Theseus had been running their offense the past two years. Achilles was living to hear every single one. 

Zagreus was glad, of course, that the two were getting on again, but Achilles was supposed to be _tutoring_ him right now, not texting his estranged lover!

Zagreus calmed himself. It was alright. Achilles could take all the time he needed to pore over his messages from Patroclus. Zagreus would find a way to catch up in Dr. Athena’s class one way or another. 

His confidence in that notion faded so much over the next ten minutes that he was glad for it when the doors to the lounge opened. That gladness was quickly replaced by dread when he saw who it was framed in the House’s majestic doorway.

Dean Hades looked like a stormcloud on that afternoon. The pop of color that he added to his outfit for formal events was absent, then. His black suit was drab and uninspired, his black tie matching his black shoes matching his black jacket matching his dark, moody expression. His deep set, bright red eyes looking out from underneath his bushy eyebrows like lasers locking onto their target. 

He strode up to their area of the lounge without saying a word, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the room. If he was looking for something, Zagreus had no idea what it could be.

“Hello, father,” he said.

Achilles looked up from his phone. He masked his obvious startlement at seeing the dean right in front of him by coughing, taking his feet down off the couch and sitting straight upright.

He nodded to them each in turn. “Boy. Achilles. Is Orpheus in?”

The innocuous question set Zagreus’ mind spinning. What would his father want with Orpheus? Whatever it was, he probably wouldn’t be too happy to discover the heartbroken musician asleep on the floor of his bedroom, surrounded by shredded sheet music. That had been the last glimpse that Zagreus had of him, the last time Dusa had slipped in there to bring him something to eat once he woke up.

“He is,” Zagreus said slowly, looking up at his father. The man was already ridiculously tall at 6’8”, and the height difference was even more apparent while both boys were sitting. “But I think that he’s asleep right now. What do you need him for?” It wasn’t a lie, since Orpheus was usually awake at night and asleep during the day.

“What’s he doing asleep during the middle of the day?” Hades asked. 

Hadn’t the man ever heard of a nap?

“Just resting, sir,” Achilles said. “He’s been working very hard on his music, lately, and sometimes lets the time get away from him at night.” 

“I should hope so, what with his recital coming up on Friday,” Hades rumbled. “Headmaster Chaos is coming to visit, as well as the members of the Olympus Club. Everything must be perfect. I have come here today to make sure that his preparations are going smoothly.”

Zagreus and Achilles looked at each other in confusion, both confirming that the other hadn’t heard anything about any recital. 

Achilles took the plunge by being the one to voice their concern. “And what recital is that, sir?” he asked. 

“What do you mean, ‘what recital’?” Hades bellowed, his voice filling the room. “It has been planned for weeks, ever since the boy’s blasted song went viral! Did you not receive your invitations through email?”

While physical invitations would have gone out to whoever else Hades had invited, everyone in Hades House got them through their school email accounts. Things like this were treated more like mandatory fraternity activities than prestigious events, for them.

“I never saw one,” Zagreus said. Achilles corroborated his statement by shaking his head.

“Blast!” Hades said. “My secretary must never have sent the email. I swear that man has the brains of a rat, sometimes!” He took a pause to collect himself. “No matter. Inform the other residents of your house that attendance is mandatory at Orpheus’ recital on Friday evening. I can get them out of any prior obligations that they have to the university. I will send an email containing the specifics myself as soon as I get back to my office, and as soon as I am finished wringing my secretary’s neck.”

“We will, sir,” Achilles said. “And we’ll make sure to let Orpheus know that you stopped by once he wakes up, too. We’ll have him email you if there’s anything that he needs before Friday.”

Hades grunted. “Have him call.”

Zagreus’ mind was elsewhere as the two continued to talk. If the Olympus Club was going to be there, then surely his mother would be, too. Or Nyx, rather. He still hadn’t seen her or even spoken to her since their conversation two weeks gone when she’d revealed the truth of his birth. He was at a point where he could admit, now, that he had always known deep down that something wasn’t adding up. But _why_ had she chosen then to reveal it, when he had been out of the hospital for less than a week?

He started brainstorming ways to get out of going to the recital. He couldn’t use football as an excuse, since Hades had _just_ said that he could get them out of anything university-related. If he wanted to feign sickness, he would need to get the timing exactly right so that he could still play in their game versus the Primordial University Nothingnesses that weekend. Likely, his father was only inviting Headmaster Chaos to the recital as a final act of showing off before the Shades stomped them the following day, making any further braggadocious behavior in bad taste. 

“Stop staring off into space, boy,” Hades said, bringing him back to the moment. “You have a lot of work to do before you’ve earned the right to be idle again.” 

With that, he turned from them and walked back out the doors. Once he was gone, the room seemed to brighten several degrees. Zagreus stared at the place where he had been, still trying to reach for a good comeback. He could find none. It was always like that, when he argued with his father.

“Don’t listen to him,” Achilles said, picking up on his mood. “Everyone knows that you’re trying your best.”

The expression on his face was genuine, but Zagreus wasn’t in the mood to be comforted. “It’s fine,” he said. “More importantly, do we know if Orpheus has anything ready to play at this recital of his? I’m not convinced that he’s even left his room since I got back.”

Achilles looked up the stairs in the direction of Orpheus’ room. “That…is a good question. A little bit of a wakeup call might be in order.”

Zagreus packed away his physics materials. It seemed unlikely that he was going to make any progress on that today, anyway. Then he and Achilles made their way up the stairs to Orpheus’ room. 

Zagreus was reminded of when Achilles came to knock on his door just one week ago. That simple act had been enough to get him started on coming out of the stupor he’d been in for weeks. He had repaid Achilles for that, but now it seemed like another member of their house needed a similar treatment. Well, Zagreus was here to provide. 

But first, he needed information. He stopped Achilles at the top of the stairs. “Before we go in there, mate, what exactly happened between Orpheus and Eurydice?”

Achilles looked back at him. “You mean that you don’t know?” he asked.

“I know that it has something to do with a video that Orpheus posted online,” Zagreus said. “But in case you hadn’t noticed, I haven’t exactly been the most social creature lately.”

“You’re right, lad, I’m sorry,” Achilles said. “You _should_ know the whole story before we head in there. Let’s take a detour to my room. I wouldn’t want him overhearing, just in case he does happen to be awake.”

Zagreus followed Achilles into his room. It was rare that he had an occasion to venture into his upperclassman’s room, and he was still surprised at how well put together it was. Everything in the entire room matched, and nothing seemed out of place. Something that had always seemed out of place to Zagreus was a framed picture of the football team from two years ago. He kept it on his dresser, and Zagreus had always wondered why he never updated it with a newer picture of the team. He picked it up as he took a seat at Achilles’ desk, and smiled as he saw Achilles and Patroclus squatting in the front row, one arm around each others’ shoulders.

“The entire team was hung over at practice, that day,” Achilles said, taking a seat on his bed. “Coach Theseus decided to call it early after the third person hurled. He was so upset, he made us all pose for that picture just so that we could look at it and remember the worst practice of our lives. He said it would make us think twice the next time we thought about drinking on a weeknight. It turned out to be a reminder of much more than that, for me.” 

Now that Achilles mentioned it, more than one member of the team looked a bit green in the face in the picture. He smiled, leaning over and replacing it on top of the dresser. 

“But anyway, you wanted to know what happened between Orpheus and Eurydice,” Achilles said.

“Right. They seemed happy before I took my time off school. Then I come back and Orpheus is locked in his room all the time, too heartbroken to even be _awake_ at the same time as her. He’s always had a flair for the dramatic, but I thought that Eurydice was a good balancing force for him.”

Achilles rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. “Yes, well, that’s sort of the problem, isn’t it? Without that balancing force, this is what we’re left with.”

“So what happened?” Zagreus asked.

“It’s kind of a long story,” Achilles said. “So strap in.”

Zagreus settled back in his chair, getting comfortable. It seemed like it always was, around here.

“Their anniversary happened to fall while you were gone,” Achilles began. “Apparently, instead of exchanging gifts, they wanted to write songs for each other. We all thought that was appropriate, and couldn’t wait to hear what they came up with.”

Zagreus nodded. Both of them had been invited to Hades House for their musical talent, which was part of why it had seemed so natural for them to get together. The sound of the music that they made, whether they were side by side at the piano bench or just harmonizing in the quad, was always marvelous. 

“But you know how Orpheus is when it comes to music. If he hears a wrong note, or sees somewhere that a song can be improved, he would never hesitate to correct you.”

“I remember,” Zagreus said, recalling the time that he had tried to get Orpheus to teach him guitar. That had been back when he was chasing after Megaera. He had thought that looking cool playing the guitar would go a long way towards bridging the age gap between them. It was good that that hadn’t been necessary, since Orpheus had thrown him out of his room in a huff when he hadn’t learned quickly enough.

Achilles continued. “Eurydice wasn’t having it this time, however. She said that he wasn’t allowed to look at her song at all until she played it for him. No advice, no corrections, no nothing until he had listened to it all the way through.”

“Let me guess,” Zagreus said. “He looked at it?”

Achilles nodded. “That and more, lad. He held out longer than I would have guessed, but he broke eventually. Opened up the folder that she kept all of her song ideas in and took it out. It had even been clearly labeled for him. Said ‘For Our Anniversary’ at the top. He took it away to play for himself, planning on putting it back where he found it before she could notice. 

“Thing is, he couldn’t use any of the pianos in the practice rooms because that’s where she was, practicing for one of her tests. So he used the piano that the theater department uses instead, since they keep it unlocked during the day. He sat down and started playing her song, but couldn’t help himself, making little changes as he went along. Apparently he got so lost in the music that he sat there for hours, working on the song he wasn’t supposed to have seen.”

“Long enough for Eurydice to come back to the House and realize that it was gone,” Zagreus said.

“Worse. Long enough for someone from the theater department to come along and take a video of him playing it, and send it to their friends. Those friends sent it to some friends, and one of those friends eventually posted it to YouTube.”

That was when Zagreus finally had the full picture. “Then the song is so good that it goes viral, Eurydice sees him playing an edited version of the song that he wasn’t even supposed to see, justifiably flies off the handle, and breaks up with him.”

“You got it,” Achilles said. 

“I can’t believe I thought that Orpheus posted that video himself,” Zagreus said, pulling out his phone. “I need to listen to it again. Is it still up?”

“Yes. The damage was already done once Eurydice saw it, so Orpheus didn’t even bother trying to get it taken down.”

Zagreus found it once Achilles told him exactly what to search. Sure enough, what pulled up on YouTube was a video of one of the school’s auditoriums that had clearly been taken on a cellphone. Despite the shoddy camerawork, the audio of Orpheus singing at the piano came through clearly. The lyrics were weirdly…morose.

_Goodbye_

_To all the plans that we made_

_No contracts_

_I’m free to do as I may_

He paused the video. “Okay, this does _not_ sound like a song that someone would sing for their anniversary.”

“That it most definitely does not,” Achilles said. “The song was a trap. She was testing him to see if she could trust him or not. The name of the song is _Good Riddance_ . With the note that she wrote at the top, it would read ‘For Our Anniversary: _Good Riddance_ ’. Her thought was that if she wrote what was clearly a breakup song for their anniversary, it would freak him out so much that she would immediately know if he had looked. No one has heard the song that she _actually_ wrote for their anniversary.”

“And Orpheus didn’t think that something might be wrong when the title of their lovey dovey song was _Good Riddance_?” Zagreus asked.

“His mind works in mysterious ways, I’m afraid,” Achilles said. “But that’s only half the issue.”

“What’s the other half?”

“The other half is that there’s a song floating around on YouTube with 4 million views _written_ by Eurydice and _played_ by Orpheus. Orpheus is recognizable enough, with his unique style, so it didn’t take long for folks to figure out that it was him at the piano. Now he has all the credit for a song that Eurydice wrote.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is about that,” Zagreus said. “He can just come out and give credit where credit is due. It’s not like he’s making money off it, or anything.”

“I don’t know about that, lad. You might want to check your email.” Achilles’ attention had been stolen by something on his phone. Something much worse than a text from Patroclus. 

Curious, Zagreus navigated out of YouTube and over to his inbox. There was a fresh email from Dean Hades waiting for him there, inviting him to Orpheus’ recital. His heart sank as he read the whole thing. Apparently, the main draw of the event was for Dean Hades’ board of directors and the Olympus Club to come hear _Good Riddance_ live from Tartarus Tech’s own prodigy, Orpheus. 

“If Eurydice heard about this event weeks ago, back when these invitations were _supposed_ to go out…” Zagreus began.

“...then it would have been coming hot on the heels of their breakup,” Achilles finished. “She could think that this is some kind of elaborate setup by Orpheus to throw their breakup back in her face.”

“This is horrible!” Zagreus exclaimed. “She must know that Orpheus isn’t the type of person who would do something like that.”

“Whether she does or not is of little consequence, I’m afraid,” Achilles said. “Having to sit and listen to him play her song in front of an entire room of millionaires just _looking_ for someone to throw money at will be the final nail in the coffin for their relationship.”

“Not if we find some way to change the program,” Zagreus said. “If he just _doesn’t_ play the song, then Eurydice doesn’t have any reason to be mad. Or, she has _less_ reasons to be mad.”

Achilles shook his head. “You should know better than anyone how hard it is to change Dean Hades’ mind once he has his teeth sunk into something. Nothing less than the song that went viral will do for his esteemed Olympus Club. They’ll sit through all of Orpheus’ other music first, but they’re coming to hear _that_ song.”

Zagreus rose to his feet. “Then we have four days to clear this matter up. We can do it! Hell, that’s _twice_ as long as it took me to get you and Patroclus to make up.”

Achilles joined him. “If there’s anyone that can do it, it’s you, lad. Now let’s go pay our dear Orpheus a visit.”

-

It turned out that they didn’t need to wake Orpheus up, after all. They caught him sneaking up the stairs when they were on their way out of Achilles’ room. His arms were laden down with snacks and drinks from the campus C-store.

“This is my midnight snack,” he explained when they questioned him about it.

“It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon, lad,” Achilles said.

“Yes, well.” Orpheus looked from side to side. “Goodbye.” He turned to make a break for his room.

“Wait!” Zagreus said, getting in his way. “We want to talk to you about Eur⸺” He cut off as he saw Achilles shaking his head fervently back and forth over Orpheus’ shoulder. “⸺about your situation,” he corrected. 

“What’s there to talk about?” Orpheus asked, adjusting the load of chip bags and soda bottles precariously balanced in his arms. “My heart has atrophied and died, and this weekend it is to be dissected by the members of the Olympus Club and all my friends up on stage. My deepest traumas will be laid bare in order for Dean Hades to pad his pockets.”

At least Orpheus seemed to be _aware_ that he was playing a concert on Friday, which Zagreus hadn’t even been sure about. 

“Right, well, it doesn’t _have_ to be that way,” Zagreus said. “It isn’t too late to…to fix what happened between you and…” There was warning in Achilles’ eyes, but Zagreus continued on. “…Eurydice.”

He wasn’t sure what reaction he had been expecting, but it certainly wasn’t what happened next. 

“Really?” Orpheus said, dropping all his junk food on the ground. One bottle of HydraLite went rogue, bouncing off down the stairs. Orpheus took both of Zagreus’ hands between his own. “That is _great_ , because I know exactly what I’m going to do to win her back.” 

Not letting go of Zagreus’ hands, he towed him down the hall and through the door of his room. Achilles stooped down to pick everything up off the ground, stowing one bag of Cyclops Jerky in his room before following.

Orpheus’ room was exactly the mess that Zagreus remembered it being. Now that his room was clean, he had a right to feel superior over people with messy rooms. There were still torn pieces of sheet music all over the floor, in addition to clothes and other pieces of trash. His bed was in complete disarray, pillows and sheets scattered to the four corners of the room. The top of his mattress had been taken over by his various instruments. A guitar, a harp, a flute, and others. He really _had_ been sleeping on the floor.

“Take a look at this,” Orpheus said, grabbing one of the pieces of paper off the floor and handing it to Zagreus.

Looking closer, he saw that it _wasn’t_ sheet music, but just normal paper with Orpheus’ scrawled handwriting all over it. Achilles came through the door then, looking at it over Zagreus’ shoulder. Zagreus frowned as he read.

_Close enough that light we can see_

_My doubt betrays the better of me_

_A glance to the stern is all it would be_

_That anguished shade shall haunt me_

“What is this, Orpheus?” he asked. 

“I call it… _the Lament of Orpheus_ ,” Orpheus said. “A song about how deep my regret for my actions goes. Did you read the part about how my heart feels like an anchor towing me to the bottom of the sea every time I think about her? I feel inclined to shed a tear just _thinking_ about the heartfelt words that I wrote on that page.”

“Yeah, sure,” Zagreus said. “That sounds great, but wouldn’t it be better to just sing her the song that you wrote for her originally? The one for your anniversary?”

“Oh no,” Achilles cut in. “She’s heard that one. We _all_ have. He sang it for nearly an hour straight in front of the House the week after…what happened. Lovely tune, that, but apparently not sufficient on its own to resolve our little problem.”

There went Zagreus’ first plan out the window. He took another look at the sheet of paper in his hands. “So you think that _the Lament of Orpheus_ will be enough to show her that you’re truly sorry?” Zagreus asked. 

“Yes.” Confidence painted Orpheus’ fragile face. “I plan to play it for everyone at the recital on Friday. I have to play _Good Riddance_ . There’s no way around that. But when everyone thinks that the concert is over, I will follow it up with _the Lament of Orpheus_. It will end the concert on a somber note, and all present shall know the depths of my sorrow, including Eurydice. Once she understands how terrible I feel, she will have to take me back.”

“I see,” Zagreus said, noting again the many different note sheets scattered around the room. He didn’t want to think about how many editions the song had gone through. “Well, it honestly seems like you have this pretty well in the bag, so I believe that we’ll just leave you to it!” He looked at Achilles, who nodded.

“Oh, well…” Orpheus kicked his way through piles of laundry to reach his bedside. Is that what Zagreus had looked like? How embarrassing. He picked his guitar up off the mattress. “Perhaps I could go ahead and play it for you? See what you think?”

“No need for that,” Zagreus said quickly. “We’ll both be present on Friday, and we wouldn’t want to spoil ourselves.”

“No use knowing the depths of your sorrow until then, by my estimation,” Achilles agreed. 

“Alright,” Orpheus said, looking dejected. “Well, I suppose that I should be getting back to bed, anyway.” As he said that, he started kicking papers and laundry on the floor aside to make room for him to lie down. Zagreus decided at that moment that Orpheus was _markedly_ worse than he had ever been. 

“That sounds good. We’ll see you tomorrow⸺er, tonight⸺or whatever,” Zagreus said, closing the door behind the two of them as they left. 

Only once they were safely back in Achilles’ room munching Cyclops Jerky did they feel comfortable discussing what they had seen. 

“So, that song was horrible, right?” Zagreus asked. “Well, not _horrible_ , but definitely not what Eurydice needs to hear to take him back.”

“Our friend Orpheus seems to have lost the thread on what the sticking point in their relationship was,” Achilles observed. “This isn’t about communicating his regret. It’s about giving her a reason to _trust_ him again.”

“Precisely. But how do we do that?”

“I’m not sure,” Achilles said. “Of the two of us, _you’re_ the expert on restoring old bonds. I’m just here to help execute your vision.”

“Somehow I don’t think that dressing Sisyphus up in your clothes is going to help us this time,” Zagreus said. “So I believe we’re on equal footing. But I’ll tell you what I _can_ do. I’ll try to flag Eurydice down sometime today and get her side of the story.” Looking at the clock, he saw that he was woefully short on time. He would need to leave for Dr. Athena’s class soon, and it was straight to football practice after that. It would have to wait until after. 

“That sounds good,” Achilles said. “Is there something I can do in the meantime? I don’t have any classes on Mondays.”

No classes on _Mondays_? Zagreus was flabbergasted by how much seniors could pull off with their scheduling privileges. He tried not to be too envious.

“For starters, you can get Orpheus to take a shower. Strip the old makeup off his face, get him to take off that old, chipped nail polish. We need to get his hygiene back on track sooner rather than later. See if you can do anything about his sleep schedule.” 

“I can handle everything except that last bit,” Achilles said. “I’m not sure if tying him to the bed would be enough to get him to sleep at night, at this point. Of course, we would need to clear the bed off first for that, anyway. Perhaps me and Dusa can team up to clean the lad’s room.” 

“If you’re willing to make that sacrifice, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it in the long run,” Zagreus said. “Try to throw out any particularly mopey drafts of _the Lament of Orpheus_ that you happen to come across.” 

“Will do, lad,” Achilles said as they stood up. It was clear who had the more difficult task.

They separated to go about their individual business.

-

Zagreus texted Eurydice on his way to Dr. Athena’s class, but it took her several hours to respond. When she did, she said that she would be eating dinner in the student union if he wanted to swing by. He didn’t see it until after football practice. Hoping that he wasn’t too late, he changed quickly and headed over.

The Erebus Student Union was a massive, stylish building held up by four chique black pillars in its center. Its outside wall was ringed with food stands and other services that the students might need. In addition to the pillars, the space was further subdivided by large planters filled with leafy fronds that gave the students privacy at their own individual tables.

Zagreus’ stomach rumbled as he hustled inside. He wanted to make a stop at one of the stands, but didn’t want to waste any time in case Eurydice was about to leave. If she was even still there at all. 

As he walked through the ostensible maze of planters, his fears were put to rest by the sound of a beautiful voice singing with guitar . 

_Atlas_

_Can rest his weary bones_

_The weight of the world_

_All falls away_

_In time_

It was definitely _Good Riddance_ , but even to Zagreus’ untrained ear it sounded slightly different than when he had heard it on YouTube. It wasn’t just Eurydice’s female voice and the lack of piano accompaniment. To him, it sounded more hopeful, more peaceful, somehow. That checked out with what Achilles had said about Orpheus changing things. 

As he stood and listened, the guitar played a few more chords before allowing its sound to fade out. That must have been the end. A small chorus of applause rang out through the student union. Zagreus wondered how many of those people knew that the singer was the original writer of the song.

Zagreus came around the planter to see Eurydice sitting on one of the tables, lounging with her feet in a chair. She was surrounded by the Hydra, six heads of it turning off the recordings on their phones while the seventh unslung the guitar from around her shoulders. Zagreus thought that one was Lernie, the one with the biggest head. They really did all look the same though, just with different hair.

“Hi, Eurydice,” Zagreus said as he approached. “Everyone.” He nodded to the members of the Hydra.

They all said things that were noncommittal and uninteresting, which to him just came across as hissing.

“Hey, hon,” Eurydice said. “I was surprised when you texted me. We haven’t talked since you got back.”

Zagreus felt sheepish, her mentioning his absence so blatantly in front of the Hydra. It didn’t seem like any of them were paying attention however, each one in the process of picking out the best filter with which to put Eurydice on their Instagram story. The only one that hadn’t had her phone out was regarding Zagreus levelly, like a snake deciding how long a mouse got to live.

“I know,” Zagreus said. “A lot has happened. But that song…it’s really beautiful, Eurydice.”

She ran a finger through her thick, corkscrew brown hair, which was dyed yellow around the edges of her afro. “Yeah, well. Seems like a lot of people think so.”

“I know that you’re the one who wrote it,” Zagreus said. “About what happened in the theater. About how Orpheus didn’t mean to⸺”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Eurydice said. “If you’re gonna not talk to me for a month, then come here out of the blue trying to get me to take Orpheus back, you’re in for a rough time.”

All the heads of the Hydra snapped their eyes up to look at Zagreus at once. Clearly, Orpheus was not favored among this group. “Look, maybe if you have some time later, we could talk in private,” Zagreus suggested. He needed to pivot to a new strategy.

Eurydice wasn’t having it. “Anything that you have to say to me, you can say in front of my girls,” she said, laying a hand on Lernie’s shoulder. “They’ve been the ones taking care of me since I had to kick Orpheus to the curb. I know that you have your own things going on, but I haven’t seen you or anyone else from the House stepping up to the plate to check on me. I’ve been spending a lot of nights in their sorority house, lately. That’s started to feel more like home than Hades House, where I’m liable to be _sung at_ any hour of the day.”

Zagreus cringed. She made a good point with that. The satisfied smiles of the Hydra told him everything he needed to know about pursuing this line of thought. He couldn’t leave without saying his piece, though.

“Orpheus wrote you a new song. A different one. About how badly he regrets his actions, and just wants you to trust him again. I would be lying if I said that it was a masterpiece, or that I thought it was what the two of you needed right now. But the _thought_ of it is genuine. He really regrets his actions. I would never try to make you take him back, but screwing up at this concert could jeopardize his entire career moving forward. That’s what I’m afraid will happen if you don’t reach some kind of reconciliation before then.”

“I’m sorry,” Eurydice said. “Did I hear that right? You want me to put my feelings aside for the sake of a _man’s career_?” 

The seven sets of eyes glaring daggers at Zagreus caused him to unconsciously take a step back. “That…isn’t what I meant,” he said.

“Well it’s sure as hell what you sounded like. Let me clear this up for you right now. There was a chance, a _small one_ , after we broke up and I had an opportunity to cool off that I would take him back.” A couple of the Hydras shook their heads. “But for me to do that, it would take him coming to me and us having an actual _conversation_. No grand gestures, no songs, just two human beings hashing it out. But he isn’t capable of that. He never has been. After the fifth time he played that love ballad of his underneath my window, I knew that we would never have a shot again.” She crossed her arms. “Sorry, hon.”

Weirdly enough, that firm set down gave Zagreus hope. She had admitted that, at one time, there was an opportunity for reconciliation. Unless his math was seriously wrong, that time hadn’t been all that long ago. It was possible, if he could just get Orpheus to communicate his feelings in a way that Eurydice would accept, for them to make up.

“Alright,” Zagreus said. “I meant what I said. I have no interest in getting you and Orpheus back together. What I’m trying to do is make sure that he puts on a good enough show on Friday to not make my father snap his head off. If he comes to you before then and apologizes⸺and I mean _really_ apologizes, no grant gestures⸺would you consider encouraging him just a little bit?”

Eurydice looked like she was considering it until Lernie piped up. “What about the song?” she asked. The level of vocal fry that she employed made her voice sound more like a snake’s rasp than anything else. “If she encourages him and he puts on the best performance of his life, he’ll _still_ be profiting off of her work!” Lernie’s other heads nodded in agreement.

“They’re right,” Eurydice said. “That song may have been a trap, but those are my real feelings there on the page. The thought of him using them to snowball his career…is just too much.” 

“I understand,” Zagreus said. He did. That song was _good_ , and the truth of the matter was that Orpheus didn’t deserve the acclaim that he was receiving for it. “In that case, as part of this, I promise to find a way to get credit for the song back to you. I don’t know how I’m going to do it yet, but if you’re at least willing to talk to Orpheus, then I’ll make sure everyone knows that _you_ are the composer of that song.”

Eurydice arched an eyebrow. “Without any grand gestures from Orpheus?”

Zagreus nodded. “You have my word.” 

She smiled. “You have yourself a deal, then. Now, you probably want to go ahead and get out of here.”

“Why’s that?”

It was only then that Zagreus noticed the wrathful expressions of the seven heads of the Hydra. Each and every one of them looked absolutely livid with Zagreus, likely for creating any risk at all that Orpheus and Eurydice would get back together. As if on cue, they all simultaneously began berating Zagreus, calling him all manner of names and rude insults. They might as well have been spitting fireballs at him.

“Okay, I get the picture,” Zagreus said, backing away. “I’ll see you on Friday then, Eurydice!” he said, turning away.

He was treated to one last look at her smiling face before he did so. In the midst of the chaos raging around her, she looked thoughtful.

“See you then, hon.”

-

Zagreus and Achilles regrouped the next morning. Achilles had gone straight to Patroclus’ apartment after football practice the previous day. All he knew of Zagreus’ conversation with Eurydice was a text from him assuring him that things were looking promising. 

“So she’s willing to have a conversation, provided that we get credit for the song back to her,” Achilles summarized. The two were sitting in his room again, which seemed to have become the strategy chamber for their discussions about Orpheus and Eurydice. “How do you plan on doing that, lad?”

“I have no idea,” Zagreus admitted. “But to me, that’s a secondary concern. I’m more worried about Orpheus actually being able to pull himself together enough for them to have a proper conversation.”

“No grand gestures, eh?” Achilles asked. “Yes, that will be difficult. We spent nearly the entire day together yesterday while we got him cleaned up. All of his ideas for how to get Eurydice to take him back involved some combination of songs, performances, and public displays of affection.” 

“He just needs some coaching, is all. It’s been a long time since he couldn’t use music to solve a problem. We just need to sit him down and teach him how to have a real heart-to-heart.”

“No offense, lad, but I don’t think that either of us are qualified to be giving advice on how to have a direct conversation with a loved one.”

Zagreus hated to admit it, but Achilles was right. Until he and Thanatos could be in the same room without being intoxicated, he had no room to talk. 

“You’re right,” he said. “Unfortunately, we _do_ know someone who is. Let me text Meg to get us in contact with her.”

Just an hour later, Zagreus was on the phone with the person that he thought would be perfect to help Orpheus learn to express his feelings with words.

As always, Alecto sounded pissed over the phone. “You do know that I only watch Love Island because I like to watch the beautiful people cry, right?” she asked. “Not because I know anything about dating.”

“I had assumed as much,” Zagreus said. “That’s not why I called. I need your help because Orpheus is having trouble expressing how he feels with words. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know anyone who’s more direct about saying how they feel than you are.”

“I’m touched,” she said. The line was quiet for a moment. “Okay, I’ll help. But only because I have nothing better to do, and because it means I’ll get to be mean to him. Be right over.” The line went dead.

As Zagreus slipped his phone back into his pocket, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had just made a huge mistake.

A short time later, he, Achilles, and Alecto stood outside of Orpheus’ door. Alecto looked like she had just come from a yoga class. Her long blonde hair was put up in a ponytail, and she wore a red shirt with black leggings. For once, her trademark black lipstick was missing. Zagreus hoped that yoga class hadn’t gotten her blood pressure up too high.

“He _has_ had a rough couple days,” Achilles said. “His sleep schedule is all manner of messed up. We should check to see if he’s asleep before we disturb him.” He opened the door just a crack.

Alecto kicked it open the rest of the way. “Wake the fuck up, turdbaby!” she said, walking into the room.

Zagreus and Achilles hurriedly followed after. Luckily, it looked like Achilles and Dusa had done a good job of cleaning the previous day. All of the trash and clothes were gone from the floor, and his instruments were arrayed neatly in the corner. It seemed that Achilles hadn’t been able to bring himself to destroy all of the old drafts of _the Lament of Orpheus_ like Zagreus had hoped. They were all piled neatly on Orpheus’ desk.

Orpheus himself jerked upright in bed, a look of terror plastered on his wan face. “Who⸺who are you?” he asked.

“My name is Alecto,” Alecto said, walking directly over to the side of his bed. She grabbed Orpheus by the front of his shirt and all but threw him out of the bed and onto the floor. He put up a pitiful resistance with his dainty musician’s fingers. “I’m here to teach you how to have a conversation about _feelings_.”

The petrified Orpheus looked to Zagreus and Achilles for help as he sat on the recently cleaned floor of his room in only his briefs and a t-shirt.

“We got Eurydice to agree to talk to you,” Zagreus explained. A smile lit up Orpheus’ face. “But you guys have to _talk_. No instruments, no singing, just an adult conversation.”

“Oh, Zagreus, I, I don’t know if I can do that,” Orpheus said. “In our relationship, it was always about the music. I don’t think I can do it any other way.”

“That’s why _I’m_ here, you whiny bitch,” Alecto said, walking over to Orpheus’ closet. She picked a pair of jeans out at random and threw them at him. “Put these on and meet me downstairs in five minutes. If you’re late, I’ll tell everyone that you wear briefs.”

“There’s nothing wrong with wearing briefs,” Orpheus mumbled while obediently putting the pants on.

“Best do as she asks without too much protest,” Achilles said, making way for Alecto to walk out of the room. He followed her down the hall. 

“This is for your own good, mate,” Zagreus offered. “Just be glad that she didn’t bring Tisiphone.” He went after the other two.

Orpheus shambled down the stairs in just under five minutes, having also found a belt and some socks. Alecto made a _tsk_ sound, checking the clock on her phone. “Sit down over there,” she commanded, gesturing across from the couch that the three of them were sitting on. Achilles and Zagreus were on either side of her, ready to jump in if matters got out of hand.

“Yes ma’am,” Orpheus said, never taking his eyes off the floor. His long black hair was almost entirely unkempt, making him look more like a sad poodle than a human being. He took a seat on the couch.

Alecto lounged casually between Zagreus and Achilles, one leg crossed over the other while both arms rested on the back of the couch. “So.” She cracked her neck. “What makes you think that you deserve to date Eurydice?”

Zagreus and Achilles made wild eye contact with each other. That was a very bold way to start the conversation.

“I, uhm.” After seeing that neither Zagreus nor Achilles were going to help out, Orpheus studied the floor. “It would be a lot easier for me to explain if I had my guitar or keyboard with me,” he said, looking around as if they might suddenly appear next to him. “You see, I wrote a whole song about how I feel, it’s really quite⸺”

“I don’t give a shit about that,” Alecto interrupted. “The Trash God here told me all about _the Lame of Orpheus_ or whatever. I want to know why _you_ think you’re good enough to date Eurydice. In _words_.”

Zagreus had to bite himself back from informing her that his room was clean now, thank you very much. This was exactly what he had brought her here to do. He could stomach a little bit of collateral damage to his own character if it meant Orpheus would be able to express himself to Eurydice.

Orpheus sat stupefied for a handful of moments, trying to work out what he wanted to say. Zagreus and Achilles watched with bated breath. Alecto yawned.

“This is torture!” he exclaimed at last. “How can you ask a musician to express himself without poetry? That’s like forcing a chef to make a meal with their hands tied together.”

“Interesting idea for a reality show,” Alecto said. “But you being tortured is sort of the point, kid. Your friends brought me here to drag your true feelings out of you, one way or another.”

“You want to know my true feelings?” Orpheus said. “Fine. Without Eurydice, it feels like my heart is being towed to the bottom of the ocean. Like the flower of my youth has withered and lost its blossoms. Like I am a wounded elk, limping along without the use of one its legs, where every tree and blade of grass that it passes reminds it of what it has lost. Are you happy now?”

“ _No_ ,” Alecto said. “If what the Trash God and Aquaman over here are saying is true, then none of that is the shit that Eurydice wants to hear. All she wants is for you to say that you fucked up and that you’re sorry. Then, maybe if you beg on your knees for long enough afterwards, she’ll take you back. Or at least not sue you for stealing her song.”

“ _Please_ , Orpheus,” Zagreus said. “Give it an effort.”

Orpheus shook his head. “None of you understand. And how could you? The kind of love that me and Eurydice shared is witnessed only once every couple of generations. Being without that because of a mistake that I made will torment me for the rest of my days, and perhaps even after. That’s not something that you can be made to understand without first experiencing it yourself.”

Zagreus looked at Achilles. His face was a mask, giving nothing away about his thoughts underneath. Alecto tapped her manicured fingernails on the back of the couch impatiently. 

Orpheus continued. “I don’t know how to express myself without poetry or music. They are at the core of who I am as a human being. Eurydice may not be the same way, but she _understood_. When I messed up in the past, she would always give me the space to express my regret in a way that felt comfortable to me. I don’t understand why this time would be any different.”

Alecto gave voice to what Achilles and Zagreus were both thinking. “Because that’s no way to run a relationship, shithead. You going off and doing whatever the fuck you want, then coming back with a poem to make it all better? Never _once_ meeting her in the middle? She was bound to get tired of that act eventually. Any normal person would. Hell, I’m tired of it and I’ve never even seen it. It’s a wonder that you made it to your first anniversary.”

That seemed to give Orpheus pause. Achilles jumped in before Alecto could say anything else. “What she’s saying, lad, is that there needs to be _compromise_. We need to find some way for you to express how you feel in a way that makes you feel comfortable, but in a form that she’ll accept.”

“ _No_ grand gestures,” Zagreus reminded him.

“I just can’t do that,” Orpheus said. “I appreciate what you guys are trying to do, but I just can’t. You’re asking me to change the very foundation of who I am for this. If that’s what it’ll take, perhaps it's better that me and Eurydice remain apart.”

Zagreus and Achilles looked expectantly at Alecto, waiting for her to say something else to shock the musician into agreeing.

“Well, I’m bored now,” she said, getting up from the couch. “This wasn’t nearly as much fun as I thought it would be.”

“Wait, you’re _leaving_?” Zagreus asked.

“Yep.” She started walking to the door, flipping all of them off over her shoulder. “Aquaman looks like he’s got something he wants to say. And by the way, Meg said that you’d give me thirty bucks if I came over to help out. I’ll send you my Venmo later. Later, losers.” The door closed behind her.

 _Meg_ , Zagreus thought ruefully. He needed that thirty bucks for his Uber to the airport if he was going to get out of town in time for this disastrous concert. Everything was falling down around him.

“Listen, lad,” Achilles said, looking at Orpheus and taking control back of the situation. “I’m not going to bore you with the details, but I _do_ know a thing or two about losing your loved ones. A lot, actually. I’m very fortunate to have recently been given a second chance with someone very important to me. But it wasn’t easy for me to get that second chance. I had to cast off the whole of who I was, literally, and make sacrifices for it. That decision tortured me at the time. But now that I have him back in my life, looking back, I would make the same decision again ten times over. I see now that those sacrifices aren’t _changing_ who you are. It’s being willing to take _risks_ for the people that you love.”

This was the true Achilles, someone strong and compassionate, who knew exactly what to say while holding out a helping hand. Not for the first time, Zagreus wondered what he had said when he went to go meet Patroclus in the stands last weekend. If it was anything half as heartfelt as that, he knew that the two of them would be alright.

“I…hear what you’re saying,” Orpheus said. “And when you put it that way, as taking a risk rather than muting a part of myself, I think that I would be willing to give it a try.” Zagreus felt hope swell in his heart. “But that doesn’t change the fact that I don’t know if I’m going to be able to say what I mean if I haven’t had the chance to express myself in song, first.”

That sense of hope plummeted. This wasn’t a much better position than they had been in before, if he was _willing_ to have a normal conversation but still wouldn’t be able to. 

Hope was still burning in Achilles’ crystalline eyes, however. “We can work with that,” he told Orpheus. He turned to Zagreus. “Can you think of some way to give Orpheus an opportunity to express himself through song _before_ they talk?”

“I can,” Zagreus said, thinking back to one of the plans that he had previously discarded. Eurydice wouldn’t like it, not at first, but it would solve both of their problems. He hadn’t forgotten about the fact that he needed to find a way to give credit for _Good Riddance_ back to her before she would even be willing to sit down with Orpheus. “It’s going to be a huge risk, though.”

Achilles laughed. “When is it not? Just tell us what we need to do, lad.”

Orpheus had been sitting at rapt attention, clearly excited but very nervous at the possibility of being given an opportunity to make up with Eurydice. Zagreus still had no idea if there was even a shred of a chance for them to get back together. He just hoped that his plan wouldn’t get him expelled before he had a chance to find out.

“First, Orpheus, you’re going to need to teach me a little bit about music theory so I can find out if this plan is even feasible. And Achilles, I need you to find a way to get Hypnos on as the MC for this event. We’re going to need to take advantage of his narcolepsy one more time.”

-

“Because it’s showtime, boyo,” Skelly said, snapping Zagreus back to the present. All of the backstage Wringers were looking at him expectantly. He held the microphone tightly in his hand. He could still go back. This was still reversible. He could still wake Hypnos up and have him MC the event as planned. As soon as he walked out on that stage, however, it would be too late to go back.

He wouldn’t do that, though. Orpheus stood behind him, wringing his hands. The thought of having the opportunity to make up with Eurydice was likely the only thing keeping him upright. Abandoning him now would be beyond cruel.

Zagreus’ reconnaissance had revealed her at one of the tables close to the stage, just as he had hoped. While the rest of Hades House had been shoved in the back, the music students among them had their own table where everyone could see them. That was very convenient for Zagreus’ purposes.

“Are you gonna stand there all day, boyo?” Skelly asked. “I could go out there and do the stand-up comedy routine I’ve been working on if you need more time.”

“No, I’m fine, Skelly,” Zagreus said. “Let’s do this.” He walked out onto the stage.

A spotlight snapped on as he did so, nearly blinding him. He was grateful for it. Until his eyes adjusted, it meant that he wouldn’t be able to see the enraged expression that his father surely started wearing as soon as Zagreus appeared onstage. 

Zagreus walked over to the center. The steady hand of the Wringer in the rafters kept the spotlight on him the entire time. 

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Zagreus said into the microphone. His voice reverberated smoothly around the event space. “Esteemed board of directors of our fair Tartarus Polytechnical Institute, lovely members of the Olympus Club, and anyone at all who is fortunate enough to be here tonight, you are in for a treat. In light of the amount of attention that he has begun to garner online, today we will be showcasing the talents of one of the brightest young stars in the classical music realm, Orpheus!”

He held for applause, which came readily and powerfully. Now that his eyes were fully adjusted, he had an opportunity to gauge the reactions of the crowd. Eurydice was at a table to his left, arms folded and looking extremely skeptical. She did look beautiful though, in a yellow dress that perfectly complimented her hair. Dean Hades looked like he was about to get out of his chair, march up to the stage, and throttle Zagreus personally. Nyx laid a hand on his arm and murmured something into his ear. Headmaster Chaos looked bemused. The members of the Olympus Club were clapping the loudest out of anyone, having no idea that anything out of the ordinary was going on.

“He will be playing for you tonight a blend of classical songs and original compositions. Be aware that there is a small printing error for the name of one of the composers on your program, which I will rectify when we reach that point in the production. But without further adieu, here is Orpheus beginning the night with Scriabin’s Sonata No. 5.”

He gave a small bow and walked off the stage as Orpheus walked on. He gave his shoulder a small squeeze and an encouraging nod as they passed. He had everything all ready to go, but it would be for nought if Orpheus couldn’t get them to that point in the night. 

Those concerns turned out to be quite unnecessary. As soon as he sat down at the piano bench, Orpheus had the audience captivated with his music. One would never have guessed that he had been spending all of his time in his room crying less than a week ago. He wore a look of intense concentration on his face as his fingers moved up and down the keys, and the audience was clearly living for every second of it.

“Boy’s got the fingers of an angel,” Skelly whispered.

Zagreus grunted noncommittally. He was too nervous to truly enjoy the music. Behind him, Hypnos shifted, nestling deeper down into the pillow that Zagreus had provided. 

His cell phone buzzed in his pocket. He should have remembered to turn the damn thing off, but now that it had gone off it was going to bother him if he didn’t look at the notification. He clicked it on and saw a message from Thanatos sitting on his lock screen: “WHAT are you DOING??”

Zagreus turned his phone all the way off and slid it back into his pocket. For the moment, he was glad that Thanatos, Achilles, and all the other members of Hades House not directly relevant to this production were sequestered away in the corner. Being more aware of Thanatos’ gaze while he was out there had the potential to undo him. 

He tried so hard not to think about that that he found himself actually enjoying the music. Once the first song came to a close, it took a pregnant pause for him to remember that he needed to go out and announce the next one. 

And so the evening went, down and down the list of songs that Orpheus was to perform. The audience was eating him up, the clapping getting louder and louder after each piece. The anticipation for _Good Riddance_ was building. Zagreus himself felt like he might like to join Hypnos leaning against that pillow as the night continued to drag on. 

Finally, however, they arrived at the end. Zagreus steeled himself as the final notes of Orpheus’ penultimate piece faded out in the concert hall and he stepped back out onto the stage.

“And now we have come to the end, ladies and gentlemen,” he said. “I know that you’ve enjoyed all of the pieces that you’ve heard thus far, but we all know what you’re _really_ here for. You’ve come here to hear _Good Riddance_ , the song that has taken the Internet by storm these past few weeks. 

“And here we arrive at the printing mistake that I alluded to earlier. Because you see, this song was not written by Orpheus, but by another member of our esteemed university’s music program: Eurydice.” He paused for applause again, but this time it was straggling and unsure when it came. The audience was clearly confused. “Eurydice, why don’t you come on up to the stage?” Zagreus asked.

Eurydice looked like she had touched an open wire. She sat bolt upright in her chair, looking around frantically as the Wringer pointed the spotlight at where she was sitting. Her gaze fell on Dean Hades, who Zagreus saw mouth “GO.” For the sake of this plan, Zagreus had been counting on his father prioritizing appearances over the wellbeing of his students.

Eurydice got up from her seat and began mounting the stairs located on the side of the stage, lifting up the long skirt of her dress as she did so. “I said _no_ grand gestures!” she hissed as she came up beside him.

“Just trust me,” Zagreus whispered back, covering the head of the microphone with his hand. Removing it, he said, “What none of you probably realized is that the version you heard online is _not_ the full version of the song. When Eurydice initially composed it, she intended for it to be a _duet_.”

That got the audience’s attention. Some of the people who had been lounging back in their chairs sat forward, suddenly interested. This included Zagreus’ uncles, who had been staring off into space with their drinks clutched in their hands like lifelines for nearly the entire production. 

The look that Eurydice gave Zagreus could strip the leaves from an oak tree. He continued on. “So, as a special surprise for the end of the night, I bring you _Good Riddance_ . Composed by Eurydice, performed by Orpheus _and_ Eurydice!” 

Having caught on to what was happening, the audience’s applause was just as raucous as before. Lady Aphrodite had a kerchief in hand, ready to dab at her eyes if the need arose. Hades wore a look on his face that reminded Zagreus of a volcano moments before eruption.

Eurydice turned away from the audience and used their clapping to cover the sound of her voice. “What the hell am I supposed to _do_?” she asked.

“Just play it the way you wrote it,” Zagreus said through his teeth, continuing to smile wide. “The sheet music is up there. Orpheus will take care of the rest.”

Then it was time to go. Zagreus exited the stage while Eurydice moved robotically toward the piano bench. Orpheus waited for her there, completely unable to meet her eyes. One of the Wringers had brought out a mic stand for the vocals, which arched over the keyboard to float between their heads. 

By the time Eurydice took her seat, the applause had died down. She looked at Orpheus demandingly, and finally he raised his head to look her in the eye. Something invisible passed between them. Eurydice’s expression was all malice, but for some reason Orpheus smiled and nodded. They both placed their hands on the keyboard and began.

_Goodbye_

_To all the earthly remains_

Zagreus’ heart stopped. It was wrong. He couldn’t explain why, but it sounded wrong. He looked at Skelly, who had his clipboard held tight to his chest. Skelly looked at him as well, and the two were in agreement that the sound being produced was…bad. Eurydice stopped singing while Orpheus pressed on.

_No burdens_

_No further debts to be pai⸺hey!_

Orpheus cut off as Eurydice grabbed the sheet music off the stand and tore it in half. She moved to get up from the piano bench.

There was no time for thinking. Zagreus ran back out onto the stage. “Now, this is⸺” It took a moment for his mic to come back on. “⸺this is embarrassing, folks.” 

Eurydice stomped off the stage in the direction that Zagreus had come from with Orpheus trailing behind her. 

Zagreus continued. “The version of the song that we had up on stage was the _solo_ version, not the _duet_ version that I just promised you. Our very talented performers have just gone backstage to fetch the correct version of the song.”

Dean Hades was rising out of his chair as Zagreus saw Achilles power walking from the back of the hall to intercept him. In the worst case scenario, which this was, it was Achilles’ job to stall Zagreus’ father from coming to murder them for as long as possible.

He could hear arguing from the wings and wrapped up what he was saying. “While we sort this out, please enjoy another round of complementary wine on Dean Hades.” With that, he ran back off the stage.

Skelly stood sweating right next to the curtain. “Skelly!” Zagreus said, pressing the microphone into his hands. “Standup comedy routine! Now!” He shoved the janitor out onto the stage before walking over to where Orpheus and Eurydice were standing.

“Hey, uh, hey folks!” Skelly’s voice reverberated around the venue. “Have any of you heard the one about the crews of the red ship and the blue ship that crashed into each other? Word is, they all got _marooned_! Ah, come on.”

“You _changed_ the _song_!” Eurydice was saying as Zagreus ran up. 

“Of course I had to change it!” Orpheus said. “It was a solo before, and I had to compose an entire other part to turn it into a duet.”

Eurydice gritted her teeth. “I’m not talking about the part that you wrote. You changed the original song that I wrote, as well. You put it in the entirely wrong key! The lyrics are meant to be in F major, not D minor.”

“Having it be in F major makes no sense,” Orpheus said. “Such despairful lyrics in such a bright key would throw off the vibe of the song completely.”

Eurydice shook her head. “You don’t get it at all. You stole it and got famous off it and you don’t even understand what the song is _about_.”

“Then tell me,” Orpheus said softly.

“I⸺I can’t.” Eurydice looked down at her hands. “I don’t know how to put it into words.”

Orpheus took her hands in his. “Then _show_ me. Go out there with me and show everyone the true nature of the song that you wrote. There will be no revisions or suggestions this time, I promise. Just tell me what I need to do.”

Tears began to well in the corners of Eurydice’s eyes. Zagreus noticed that those same tears were present in Orpheus’, as well. Eurydice took her hands back and took a step away. “I have the original sheet music on my phone,” she said, sniffling. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. When it came away, her face was all business. Zagreus could tell that her mind was working a mile a minute. “If we’re going to make this work as a duet, then you’ll need to transpose about two scale tones down from me on the spot. Do you think you can do it?”

“I can,” Orpheus said. “But that puts me back in D minor. Is that okay?”

“It’s the only way that I can think to do it without changing it completely,” she said. “We’ll just have to see what it sounds like.”

“Okay, then. Let’s do it.”

“Zagreus.” Eurydice turned to him. “I’ll need you to hold my phone and scroll through everything. If one of us does it, it’ll be way too slow.”

“I can do that,” Zagreus said. He was both glad and extremely surprised that they had managed to sort that out without him having to say a word. 

He turned around to look at Skelly pacing around the stage. “Do any of you numbskulls know why Norwegian ships have barcodes on the back of ‘em? It’s so they can Scandinavian!”

“Boo!” Zeus called from his table. “Why are all of the jokes about boats? Tell one about planes!”

Poseidon belched loudly. “I _like_ his boat jokes! Tell another!” 

“We had better get back out there,” Zagreus said.

“Right,” Orpheus and Eurydice said in unison.

Those two led the way back out while Zagreus trailed behind, holding Eurydice’s phone. It had only taken a moment for her to get the sheet music pulled up. Somehow, impossibly, it seemed like Achilles had found a way to get Hades to go back to his seat. Nyx was saying something hurriedly to him, but he kept his eyes fixed straight ahead. On Zagreus.

“Phew, I think I was starting to lose ‘em, boyo,” Skelly said, handing the mic back. 

“Good job, Skelly,” Zagreus said as Orpheus and Eurydice took their spots at the piano bench.

“I apologize again for the brief interruption,” he said once Skelly was off the stage. “Allow me to present, for real this time, _Good Riddance_ by Eurydice.” 

He turned the mic off manually and stuffed it into his pocket, then went to stand behind the piano. He held the phone up in front of both their faces. “Can you see it alright?” he asked.

“It’s fine,” Eurydice said, and Orpheus nodded. “You ready to do this, hon?” 

He nodded again, and they began.

_Farewell_

_To all the earthly remains_

It sounded much better this time. _Far_ better. Immediately, the discordant harmony between Eurydice’s bright, hopeful voice and Orpheus’ dark, despairful accompaniment was gorgeous. Zagreus willed them to keep going.

_No burdens_

_No further debts to be paid_

He looked at the audience. Most of them had been wearing displeased expressions when they came out, but already some of those were beginning to break down. Headmaster Chaos was smiling pleasantly and nodding along.

_Atlas_

_Can rest his weary bones_

_The weight of the world_

_All falls away_

_In time_

Zagreus realized with a start that he had already forgotten to scroll the phone down for them while he’d been assessing the audience’s reactions. 

It didn’t seem to matter, though. Orpheus and Eurydice both had their eyes fixed on something far off in the distance as their fingers danced across the keyboard. Their shoulders rose and fell in unison as they put their entire bodies into singing the lyrics.

_Goodbye_

_To all the plans that we made_

_No contracts_

_I’m free to do as I may_

Zagreus locked Eurydice’s phone and set it gently on top of the piano. He wasn’t needed here. With one last look at his father’s face, which hadn’t changed at all, he retreated backstage again. 

Skelly clapped him on the shoulder. “I think we did it, boyo.”

Zagreus rested his hand on top of Skelly’s as he turned back to look at them. “Yes, boyo. I think we did.”

_No hunger_

_No sleep except to dream_

_Mild and warm_

_Safe from all harm_

_Calm_

What _was_ it that the song was about? In all of the drama, he had never actually stopped to consider the lyrics. If he had been pressed about it, he would have said something similar to what Orpheus had. A sorrowful tune about the pain that one experienced across their life, and the hurt of being forced to move on from it.

Hearing it now, actually paying closer attention to the lyrics and being able to hear Eurydice’s optimistic inflections, he knew that that couldn’t possibly be right. But if it wasn’t about the pain of living, then what could it be?

_Good riddance_

_To all the thieves_

_To all the fools that stifled me_

_They’ve come and gone_

_And passed me by_

_Good riddance_

_To all_

It was good that they were nearing the end of the song, since both Eurydice and Orpheus’ voices were starting to break as tears flowed openly down their cheeks. Zagreus surprised himself by finding a tear beginning to crawl out of his eye, as well. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had cried. Skelly was weeping openly, using the papers from his clipboard to try and staunch the flow.

_Farewell_

_To all the earthly remains_

_No burdens_

_No further debts to be paid_

_Atlas_

_Can rest his weary bones_

_The weight of the world_

_All falls away_

_In time_

As the final notes of the song rang out across the concert hall, perfect silence moved in to take their place. Eurydice and Orpheus seemed to be getting their emotions under control at the piano, looking deep into one another’s eyes. 

When the applause came, it came fast and hard. Zagreus couldn’t resist peeking around the corner.

Almost every single member of the audience was on their feet. Lady Aphrodite was dabbing at her face with her handkerchief, but her display of emotion was nothing in comparison to Zagreus’ uncles. Zeus and Poseidon held each other in their arms, both of them bawling like babies as their wives watched on in horror. Even Hades had been dragged up to his feet by Nyx and was clapping slowly. 

When the clapping started to slow down, which took some time, Zagreus clicked his mic back on and stepped back out onto the stage. “Would our two talented performers be so kind as to give the audience a bow?” he asked. 

Orpheus and Eurydice seemed startled by that, as if they had completely forgotten that it would be coming at the end of the performance. Together, they rose and walked out to the front of the stage, next to Zagreus. To the accompaniment of one last round of clapping, they took each other’s hands and bowed deeply. 

Breaking the contact, Orpheus took a step back and presented Eurydice for her to bow on her own. Not to be outdone, she bowed graciously and then took an even further step back, presenting Orpheus. The smile on his face made him not look so waifish anymore, though his mascara had begun to run significantly. 

It suited his aesthetic well enough, Zagreus thought. 

When Orpheus bowed on his own, the applause was exactly equal to what Eurydice had received, despite the fact that he had played an entire show before the performance of _Good Riddance_. Zagreus knew that Orpheus wouldn’t have preferred it any other way. All of that had just been a prelude.

“Thank you so much for coming out tonight,” Zagreus said into the mic. “I hope that you all got as much out of it as these two did. I know that they really put their hearts and souls into that performance. Have a wonderful evening.” 

He wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to say. He hadn’t given more than a cursory glance to the notes that Hypnos had been provided for the end of the production. Part of him thought that he would be dead and in the ground by that point. The audience seemed to accept it, though. As the lights came back up, they all started to get out of their chairs and converse with each other. They all wore happy expressions on their face.

All of them except for Zagreus’ father, of course. He got out of his chair and stormed out the back of the hall. Nyx looked like she was considering going after him before remembering Headmaster Chaos’ presence. The dean of Primordial University was just getting out of their chair, and was smiling warmly at Nyx. The two struck up a pleasant-looking conversation. That was good, at least.

Hypnos had his pillow clutched to his chest, standing next to Skelly as Zagreus made his way over. “Is the concert over?” he asked, rubbing sleep out of his eye.

“I’m afraid so, mate,” Zagreus said.

“Thank god,” Hypnos said. “I’ll see you guys at home.” He turned and walked away.

“That really was something, boyo,” Skelly said. “You all did a great job. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get out of here before anyone from the theater department shows up.” He shoved his tear-stained clipboard and his headset into Zagreus’ hands, then jogged away in the same direction that Hypnos had gone.

Zagreus turned to check on Orpheus and Eurydice and was nearly driven to the ground by a slap to the face. The mic, headset, and clipboard all tumbled out of his grasp onto the floor. 

Eurydice shook her hand out. “You really are one arrogant prick, you know that, hon? That was your idea of something that _wasn’t_ a grand gesture?”

Zagreus raised a hand to his stinging cheek. There were black spots floating his vision. “I couldn’t think of any other way to get credit for the song back to you _and_ give Orpheus an opportunity to express himself _before_ you talked. Which, by the way…”

“I know,” Eurydice said. “We’re on our way to have our little conversation right now.”

Behind her, Orpheus was smiling softly.

“I just wanted to stop by and thank the guy who made it happen,” Eurydice said.

“Wait, _thank_ me?” Zagreus asked. “That was you _thanking_ me?”

“Sure was.” Eurydice smiled. “It’s a lot better than what I was planning on doing to you _before_ the whole thing worked out. Now come on, Orpheus. We should probably talk while I’m still in a good mood from slapping Zagreus.”

She walked off and Orpheus followed, mouthing an emphatic “thank you” as he did so. Zagreus thought that whether they got back together or not, they would both probably end up okay.

He took a second to still his spinning head. Then he collected all of the items up off the ground and put them on a table for the Wringers to find and put away. By the time he was done, one of the side doors swung open to admit Achilles to the backstage area.

“Good job, lad,” he said, beaming. “There was a rough patch there in the middle, but you managed to push through.”

“ _I_ managed to push through?” Zagreus asked. “You’re the one who stopped my father from coming back here to break my neck.”

“I only stopped him by saying that you had the situation under control. He still trusts you, on some level, you know. Enough to know that you would be able to get the concert back on track. Doesn’t mean that he’s not still mightily pissed, but you live to meddle another day.”

“It’s good to hear that, I suppose,” Zagreus said. After a moment, the two decided to hug.

“You really do have a talent for this,” Achilles said as they disengaged.

“Let’s just hope that none of our other friends have a crisis tonight,” Zagreus joked. “I’m beat.”

“Not _too_ beat, I hope,” Achilles said. “Don’t forget that we have to pound the Primordial University Nothingnesses into, well…nothingness tomorrow.”

“I _had_ forgotten that, actually,” Zagreus said as they started walking out of the building.

They went out the back way, cresting the side of the building to go around to the front. He stopped dead in his tracks before coming out into the open.

Thanatos stood on the steps of the theater, a vision in a purple-trimmed black suit. His breath fogged in the autumn air as he shuffled his feet, staring at the front of the theater and the lines of people pouring out. 

“He’s looking for you,” Achilles said.

“I had guessed as much,” Zagreus said. “But I just…I can’t deal with that today.” He turned around. He knew a different way that he could walk back to the House.

“You’re going to have to speak with him eventually when you’re both sober, lad.”

“I know. It’s just…not today.”

That put a damper on the two’s mood as they walked mostly in silence back to Hades House. They bid each other goodnight and went their separate ways, promising to get breakfast together in the morning.

Back in his room, Zagreus stripped off his clothes and let them all fall on the floor. He climbed into bed, feeling exhausted.

This didn’t feel as good as it had when he helped Achilles and Patroclus. Likely because this time, he had put himself directly in the crosshairs of his father. And his mother had been there to witness it all. 

He realized with a start that he had never turned his phone back on. He grabbed it off of his nightstand and reactivated it. As soon as he did, a flood of text messages came in. 

He still had the one from Thanatos that said, “WHAT are you DOING??” Another one had come in later. “What you did for them is really nice. I’ll be waiting in front of the theater when the concert’s over, if you wanna walk back to the house together.”

He had three texts from Achilles. The first read, “Orpheus seems like he’s in top form, today. This might actually work.” The second read, “OH NO”. The third read, “That was close. I’ll be back there in a minute. Trying to find a way out of going to Dr. D’s afterparty.” Wait, Dr. Dionysis was having an afterparty? That was something that Zagreus might have liked to know before he came all the way home.

The text from his father wasn’t nearly so jovial. “I don’t know what you were hoping to accomplish tonight, boy, but it has only served to anger me. I give you chance after chance, and still you squander them all. This is your last one. There will be no more extensions from your professors, and no more exceptions to the rules. From now on, you are no longer the dean’s son. Just a normal student.” 

Zagreus gulped. While he was looking, another text from Hades came in. “Please call your mother when you get the chance.”

He had a text from her, as well. “Try not to worry about whatever your father says to you. I spoke with Headmaster Chaos after, and they had a lovely time. Your father will feel better once you kick their school’s butt in football tomorrow evening. I’ll be rooting you on.”

Weirdly enough, that text made him feel the worst out of all of them. Nothing that he had done that night couldn’t have been done by Hypnos. Zagreus had made it so that he would be the MC for the night just so he didn’t have to sit next to his mother. He knew that, somewhere deep down.

Achilles was right. He would have to face his problems sooner or later. Thanatos, his father, and Nyx. The longer he waited, the more hurt he was putting those people through. His mother had masked it well, but there had been pain in her eyes when Zagreus never appeared in the seat next to her. Thanatos could still be waiting outside the theater.

He let his head hit the pillow. Yes, he would face all of those problems soon. But it wouldn’t be today.

As he tried to fall asleep, he put more thought into what Eurydice’s song was actually about.


End file.
